


Until Dawn: The Light of Day

by AssassinMasterEzio91



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Break Up, Death Traps, Developing Relationship, F/M, Friendship, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2019-10-12 04:56:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 67,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17461028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AssassinMasterEzio91/pseuds/AssassinMasterEzio91
Summary: Self-insert with three OCs into the Until Dawn story, with some other slight but notable changes. A year after a tragic incident led to the disappearance of two of their friends, eleven teens return to the cabin where it all started, seeking closure, but instead find dark terror even greater than initially imagined.





	1. Prologue: One Year Ago

**Until Dawn: The Light of Day**

**Prologue: One Year Ago  
**

The snow billowed around the mountain, the moon was high and the night dark, standing defiant against the elements was the large building known locally as the Washington Lodge, property of the Washington family; it’s lights shone bright.  Outside the lodge a mysterious stranger clad in dark clothing stood, he clutched a machete tightly in his hand.  Inside the lodge were ten teenagers,  all within the age range of seventeen to nineteen.

Right now the majority of said teens were in the dining room, three of them passed out drunk. The others were all talking quietly amongst themselves, except for one of the girls who was standing separate from the others. Three of the occupants of the lodge were the children of the Washington family. The eldest of those was nineteen year old Joshua Washington, known as Josh to his friends, he and his sisters all had dark chocolate-brown hair and caramel complexions, unlike his eighteen year old sister’s who were twins, Josh had green eyes.

The Washington sisters meanwhile had dark brown eyes. One of the sister’s, Beth, was in the same room, she was the girl standing separate from the others, looking out the window. Her hair came to just below her chin with bangs framing her face. Apart from her hair being longer, down to her shoulders, the other sister, Hannah, was the perfect image of Beth.

Hannah was nowhere around right now, while Josh was one of the three boys passed out drunk; the second being his best friend, eighteen year old Christopher ‘Chris’ Hartley. A man with fair skin, short dirty blonde hair worn in a faux-hawk style who also wore a pair of grey rectangular glasses. The third was a young man of seventeen, tall at six foot one with dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and a lanky build.

His name was Brian Baker, usually a talkative easy-going young man, eager to get to know new people, but right now, passed out drunk and therefore, uncommunicative.

The remainder of the friends were all gathering together, further along the room, talking amongst themselves. One of them, a girl of seventeen with green eyes, beige blonde hair in small pigtails and a bisque complexion, Jessica ‘Jess’ Riley, was placing a note on the table where it could be found, by it’s intended recipient.

It was two in the morning, the group of teens had been partying and enjoying themselves and, some of them quite giddy from the drink, had decided to play a prank on Hannah Washington. The basis of the prank being Hannah’s crush on another member of the group.

Eighteen year old Michael ‘Mike’ Munroe, a muscular young man with short dark brown hair, brown eyes and fair skin. This raised some issues, anger especially from Mike’s girlfriend Emily Davis, an eighteen year old Asian-American woman with above shoulder length black hair and light brown eyes, an olive complexion and a small birthmark above her right eyebrow.

It had been Jessica who came up with the prank as a means to get revenge, which involved having Hannah find the note, apparently from Mike, luring her to one of the bedrooms where they would trick her into an embarrassing situation which they would get on camera.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe you actually did this.” Emily remarked to Jessica, her voice shaking with laughter.

Jessica waved a hand, pointing out Beth across the room. “Shh...Shh...Shh.”

Emily just smirked and another girl, standing nearby, shook her head.

“Don’t you guys think this is a bit cruel?” She said, all too aware of how sensitive Hannah was.

This girl was also eighteen, had fair skin, medium long blonde hair which she tied in a classic bun style at the back, leaving a few locks framing her face. She also had hazel eyes, this girl was called Samantha Giddings, also known as Sam.

The others turned to her, joined by two others, the first was a fair skinned seventeen year old Caucasian boy with a toned build, albeit with a slight paunch, short dark red hair and hazel eyes, he also wore glasses, this was Jamie Townley, Beth’s boyfriend.

The second young man was also seventeen with tanned skin, being five foot eleven in height with an average frame although he had broad shoulders. He also had olive green eyes, close cropped reddish brown hair and similar facial hair that resembled a five-o'clock shadow.

While Jamie was shy and introverted, yet tried hard to open up, especially with Beth’s help; this young man was easy-going and extroverted, his name was Kyle Sherman. Kyle could be shy, however only around people he didn’t know, although he warmed up fast to those he trusted.

Jessica shook her head. “Oh come on, she deserves it.”

Sam shook her head, replying defensively. “It’s not her fault she has a huge crush on Mike-”

“Hannah’s been making moves on him.” Jess shot back, shaking her head. “I’m just looking out for my girl Em.”

She grinned to Emily before they all began leaving the room. As they walked Emily spoke up again.

“Just because he’s class Prez doesn’t mean he belongs to everyone...Mike is my man.” She exclaimed.

Mike sighed and shook his head. “Hey Em, I’m not anybody's man.”

“Whatever you say darling.”

As they exited the kitchen they were joined by the final two, a boy and a girl, both seventeen. The first was a boy named Matthew Taylor, Matt to his friends, an African-American male with short black hair and brown eyes. The girl was Ashley Brown, a young Caucasian woman with medium length auburn hair and green eyes. So it was they all hurried out, heading up to the guest room where their little prank was to take place. Shaking her head, Sam went in a different direction, preparing to find and warn Hannah.

“Hannah!” She called out, desperate to find her before it was too late.

Meanwhile, with Beth looking out the window, Chris and Josh passed out and Sam searching for Hannah, the others were all in the guest room. They were preparing for the prank, getting into their hiding places. Ashley hiding behind a partition, Matt in the closet, keeping the door opened enough to film the incident through. Ashley was trying to stifle her giggles, as were Jess and Emily as they hid under the bed. Mike stood by the bed, waiting for Hannah.

Meanwhile, down in the dining room, Beth was looking out the window at the snow.

She bit her lip. _‘Wow, it’s really coming down...Huh, where has everyone, what the…?’_

Her thoughts were cut off as she spotted something outside, it looked like a person, standing out in the snow. The figure turned and left immediately but Beth saw them and turned quickly, calling out.

“Hey...Did you see that?” She queried. “Dad said it’d just be us this weekend...Josh?”

No response. She approached her brother and tried to shake him awake, to no avail. She then spotted the beer bottle next to him, amongst others. She picked it up and raised an eyebrow.

“Jeez Josh.” She laughed. “Once again brother, you’ve outdone us all.”

Shaking her head she looked around, trying to find the others, it was then she saw the note on the table and checked it. It was signed by Mike and seemed to be inviting Hannah up to the guest room, the content was somewhat sexual and Beth sighed.

“Oh my God, what’d our naive sister get herself into now?”

She shook her head, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

Meanwhile, up in the guest room, Emily and Jessica were still giggling when Emily heard the movement and nudged Jess.

“Oop!...She’s here, shh!” She whispered.

The door opened and Hannah entered, immediately noticeable in terms of difference of appearance between her and her twin sister was the fact Hannah wore onyx-black rectangular glasses, she also wore a heart shaped locket which was known to contain a picture of her and Beth.

“Mike?” She said quietly, curiously. “It’s Hannah.”

Mike smiled as he replied. “Hey Hannah.”

Hannah stepped fully into the room, closing the door and smiling, suddenly awkward.

“I got your note...”

“Glad you could make it.” He said, suave and charming. “Maybe we should start with a little, you know, making out, and see where it goes from there.”

Hannah bit her lip, suddenly feeling like this was her chance, that she might finally get Mike’s attention. As a result she reacted eagerly, unbuttoning her blouse, starting to remove it, starting to reveal her recent black butterfly tattoo, located on her upper right arm.

Mike’s eyes widened and he grinned. “Ohhhhh, hell yeah.”

Jess couldn’t help but burst into giggles as she let out a strangled whisper. “Oh my God! She’s taking her shirt off!”

“What?” Hannah gasped; hearing her and then seeing Jess and Emily. “Oh my God!”

The others burst out of their hiding places at that time, including Matt with his camera.

“Matt?! What are you doing here?!” Hannah gasped in horror.

She was stuck, her shame caught for all her friends to see and worse, it was being filmed.

She fumbled her shirt back on, her face burning with shame.

Mike began trying to save face. “Uh, I’m sorry Hannah, this all got outta hand, but...”

At that moment Sam burst into the room, realizing in dismay she had been too late.

She turned quickly to Hannah. “Hannah, Hannah, hey honey...Don’t...it’s just a...”

But Hannah was too distraught to even listen to her friend. “Mike…!”  
  
She turned and ran from the room, not stopping.

Sam groaned as she finished her statement. “...Stupid prank.”

“Uh...damn.” Mike muttered, the others all sharing a look.

Sam turned to the others and glared. “You guys are jerks, you know that?”

She turned and ran after Hannah. “HANNAH!”

She only just arrived in time to see and hear Hannah exit by the front door.

Beth was still down in the dining room and looked up at that point and spotted movement outside; she was startled, wondering if it was the same figure as before. She reacted at once, rushing out the door, calling out to the others.

“Guys, there’s someone outside!” She called out, before noticing them all heading outside too. “What the hell…?”

She hurried to pull on her fuchsia winter coat, hearing the others calling her sister’s name. Bursting outside, into the cold, the others all stopped, Sam calling out in desperation.  
  
“Hannah!”

Beth burst out after them, shoving Matt out of the way as she did so.

“What’s going on?” She demanded, looking around at the others. “Where’s my sister going?”

Jess shook her head dismissively. “Ugh, it’s fine, she just can’t take a joke.”

In a similar tone Emily called out into the woods. “It was just a prank, Han!”

Beth glared, looking carefully at them, realizing right away they were responsible. “What did you do!?”  
“We were just messing around Beth...It wasn’t serious.” Mike tried to explain.

“You JERKS! And YOU were involved in this Jamie, I can’t believe you!”

“Beth, I, I just...” Jamie stammered.

She shook her head. “We will _discuss_ this, later!”

With that Beth turned and run off into the woods after Hannah, calling out to her.

“So...” Mike began awkwardly. “Should we go after her?”

Sam shook her head. “Y’know, I kinda think you’re the LAST person she wants to see right now, Mike.”

With that the others turned and made their way back inside, Sam just prayed Beth would be able to find Hannah and bring her back.

* * *

 

Stumbling through the snow, Beth grit her teeth, looking around for her sister.

“Oh shit!” She muttered. “Dammit Hannah, where are you?”

She stumbled  onwards, stopping when she found a fork at the road. She looked around, there were footprints on one path and a shadow on the other. Acting on instinct she followed the footprints, nearly running into a herd of dear, crying out. Still she stumbled on, frantic, trying to find her sister. It was getting darker and she soon had to pull out her phone and use it’s light feature to find her way.

‘ _ Shit, shit this is messed up...What is, huh?’  _ She thought frantically.

She stopped when she spotted a strange object on the ground, it looked like an old Native American totem. Picking it up, she looked at it, turning it over to find a strange butterfly design, black in color, suddenly her vision was overwhelmed with a strange sight, a sight of her falling down a cliff and landing badly, looking disturbingly dead and next to her, Hannah, in the same state. She dropped the totem at once.

‘ _What the fuck is that...’_

Shaking her head and trying to purge the disturbing sight from her mind she hurried onwards. She hadn’t gone more than a few paces when a burst of flames above and to her left startled her. But then she could hear someone sobbing; she reacted at once.

“Hannah!!”

Rushing forwards she found Hannah, kneeling in the snow, sobbing.

“Hello?” Hannah replied, looking up in shock.

“Hanna!” Beth cried out, seeing her sister wasn’t wearing a coat. “Oh my God, you must be freezing.”

Despite the fact Hannah was wearing jeans and a blouse and Beth, in comparison, had a simple shirt and yoga pants, she removed her coat.

“Here, take my coat.”

Hannah pulled it on as she slowly stood up, both of them standing together now.

Hannah remained distraught as she shook her head.

“I’m such an idiot, I’m so dumb...” She whimpered.

Beth did her best to comfort her, but then, suddenly they heard a terrifying screech.

“Hanna…?”

The girl just shook her head. “Beth…?”

Beth bit her lip, terrified; the screech sounded again and, in blind panic, they turned and ran as fast as they could, no easy task due to the snow.  Running in a blind panic they made it to an old bridge, crossing the bridge Hannah fell. Crying out Beth turned to help her sister up, unaware that, at that moment, her phone fell from her pocket, falling under the floorboards of the bridge. They continued onwards, both wanting to find safety but ending up trapped as they reached a dead end, a cliff.

“Oh Jesus Christ!” Beth gasped.

Hannah let out choked gasps as she and Beth clung to each other moving backwards until they couldn’t go any further due to the edge of the cliff.

“No...”

They could hear the screeching getting closer.

“No, shit, no, get back!” Beth cried out. “Fuck, no...ARGH!”

She cried out as they suddenly lost their footing and fell. They now were stuck, Beth hanging onto a branch protruding from the ledge, holding Hannah’s hand with her other hand.

A burst of flame suddenly lit up the night above them. Beth looked up in horror as a strange masked figure appeared above them and, after a brief pause, reached out towards them. Beth grit her teeth, she could feel Hannah’s hand slipping through her own, she couldn’t abandon her sister and, seeing this figure wasn’t helping.

It only terrorized her more and, unable to hold on anymore, she let go. The last thing she knew was the pain of slamming against the ground several times. She struck a particular rock and life was wiped from her body.


	2. Chapter 1: Memento Mori

**Until Dawn: The Light of Day**

**Chapter 1: Memento Mori**

**Ten Hours Until Dawn  
**

_**Sam** _

**21:02  
**

The bus drove slowly through the mountain road, the snow fell softly, lying heavily on the ground. It was late at night and I sighed finding myself as the last passenger on the bus. I could hardly believe it had been a whole year since the last visit. Now here I was, on my way for the annual get together of me and my friends. I was currently looking out the window, listen, through headphones, to a radio podcast about the incident from a year ago.

‘ _Still no one ever found Hannah and Beth...And we’re going back to the lodge now.’_ I thought to myself. _‘Is this really the right thing to do.’_

I lowered  my gaze, casually checking  my nails, painted light blue with small white snowflakes on them.  I listened to the podcast mentioning a person of interest and the old sanatorium before pressing a button on  my iPhone; showing a video of Josh.

“Hello friends and fans.” Josh greeted on the video, before shaking his head. “Let’s try that again.”  
He stepped forwards and adjusted the camera before stepping back into shot.

Smiling widely he spoke again. “Hello friends and fans. It is beyond awesome to have to have all you guys all back this year.”

I bit my lip, watching carefully; something about Josh’s attitude in the video made me feel worried for him.

“First of all, I’ve gotta say I am super excited to welcome back all my pals back to the annual Blackwood winter getaway.” He explained before doing a mock cheer similar to a live audience in a TV show.

I continued to watch, glancing up to check where I was.

I wasn’t sure how Josh had been coping throughout the year; he had been saying he was fine, but it always felt, to  me , that he was hiding something.

‘ _It also doesn’t help that Chris and I were the only ones to really stay in touch with Josh afterwards.’ _ I reflected sadly. _‘ As well as Kyle, ever since he and I...’_

I smiled lightly, recalling that.  T he video was still ongoing and  I listened  carefully again . “So um...let me just take a moment to address the ‘elephant in the room’ so to speak. I know you’re probably all worried about me and I know it’s gonna be tough on all of us going back;  after what happened last year. ”

He pause d for a moment before smiling again and continuing. “ I know it would mean so much to Hannah and Beth that we’re all still together. Thinking of them.”  
I knew that, officially, Hannah and Beth were still missing, but it was pretty obvious to all but the most optimistic they were dead.

“I really want to spend some quality time with each and every one of you and share some moments we’ll never forget.” He explained. “So, let’s party like we’re fucking porn stars, okay?”

He laughed and the video ended;  I smiled lightly and put  my iPhone away, removing the headphones before standing up and moving towards the front of the bus.  I quickly spoke to the driver.  
  
“This is my stop here.”  I said.

The driver nodded and stopped and I disembarked from the bus. With a sigh I looked around as the snow gently swirled around me.

I was grateful I had dressed for the weather; in a purple long-sleeved shirt, a black leather jacket wrapped with a lipstick-red thick scarf around my neck, grey boots with white trimmings, a fur hat and a red plaid skirt along with black tights. With the bus having driven away, I prepared to make my way up to the cable car station which would take me up the mountain, closer to the lodge, I knew the others would be arriving, or already here. As I began to take a step forwards, I heard a distinctive noise, it sounded like a twig snapping and I could swear I could hear heavy breathing.

“Hello?” I called out, looking around worried. “Someone there?”  
  
No response, the noises stopped; shaking my head and feeling paranoid suddenly I began to walk up the path, my boots crunching through the snow. It did not take me long to reach the gate; I reached out a hand to open it but stopped.

‘ _Huh, what’s this?’ I_ wondered, spotting a note attached to the gate.

I picked it up and read it.  _“The gate is busted, climb over. Chris.”_

I sighed and shook my head. “Oh man.”

Looking around I finally spotted a possible section of wall I could scale to my left. I walked over and immediately began climbing, going as quickly as I could. I stopped for a moment, looking up and judging the distance. Taking the risk I jumped up, grabbing the top edge of the wall. I pulled myself up with a grunt and once on top, deftly leapt down, bending my knees to absorb the impact. I straightened up, smiling once I was on the other side and resumed my walk.

I glanced around again, sure I heard something, I had a strange feeling that something, or some _one_ was watching me. I brushed the feeling off however, stopping when I saw something else. Smiling I squatted down, gently lifting up a small pile of nuts and holding out my hand, with the nuts on them.

“Hey, cute little squirrel.” I said quietly. “C’mon, it’s alright.”

I stayed as still as possible until the squirrel came up and took the nuts from my hand before scampering off.

Straightening up I laughed softly. “Cutie.”  
  
Still smiling I made my way up to the lower cable car station, looking for any sign of the others. The only other person I knew for certain would be around here was most likely Chris. I looked around however and didn’t see anybody.

“Chris? You here?” I called out to no reply.

I paused and spotted Chris’s bag. “Your bag is here, so where are you?”

I looked around, he wasn’t around.

I jokingly called out. “You’re not _in_ the bag are you?”

It was then I spotted something else. Chris’s bag had it’s front pouch unzipped, his phone was slightly hanging out and the screen had just lit up, vibrating.

“What do we have here?” I wondered aloud; pondering briefly on my options at the moment. “Maybe I shouldn’t snoop around Chris’s stuff.”

I zipped the bag up, closing the phone off, not looking at the phone.

Just as I straightened up, I heard footsteps and then the familiar voice of Chris.

“Hey, Sam, you made it.”

I turned and smiled when I saw him. “Hi Chris.”

Chris was dressed for the weather too in a layered light blue jacket over a green commando-style sweater, blue collared shirt, and a white undershirt and simple jeans. He paused briefly before grinning and going to pick up his bag. “Hey, c’mon, got something to show you.”

“What?”

“I’m not saying, you gotta come see.” He replied with a soft laugh. “Gonna blow your mind.”

Rolling my eyes and laughing I followed Chris. As they began walking around the back of the cable car station, my eyes were drawn to a defaced wanted poster of a criminal, I was shocked, it seemed the criminal was supposed to live in the nearby area.

“Whoa, have you seen this?” I asked.

Chris nodded. “Yeah, maybe we’ll get a visit from America’s Most Wanted.”

Sighing at his joke I followed him around the back where he revealed what he had found, it was a makeshift shooting range, with bottles set up on various surfaces and stuffed sacks hanging from trees, a rifle was set on the ‘table’ at the edge of the ‘range’.

“Well, what do you think, sweet huh?” Chris commented.

I stared with wide-eyes at it. “Sweet isn’t the word I’d use, what’s a shooting range doing at the base of a ski lodge?”

Chris laughed a little as he picked up the rifle. “Uh, have you met Josh’s dad, guy thinks he’s Grizzly Adams or something.”

I just sighed and watched as Chris took aim with the rifle.

_**Chris** _

**21:11  
**

Taking careful aim, I made short work of shooting several of the sacks and a couple of bottles.

“See.” I remarked with a grin.

Sam just laughed and in a faux southern accent replied. “Wow, nice shootin’ Tex.”

Also laughing I smirked. “Alright, I’m bad.”

“I’m gonna go more with a wild case of beginner’s luck.” Sam replied.

I gladly took up the challenge. “Oh no, watch this.”

With that I casually no-scoped a bottle.

Sam shrugged before teasingly replying. “Well, anyone and their brother could hit a bottle that big, that close.”

I laughed again and took aim one more time. But I then stopped for a moment however as I saw, one of the drums on which a bottle had been set now had a squirrel sitting on it, eating a small pile of nuts.

‘ _Where did that little guy come from, okay, that removes that target, no way am I even aiming that way.’_ I thought to himself. _‘Doubly so with Sam here, given how much of an animal lover I is.’_

So I instead aimed for the furthest away sack and took the shot, striking it. Sam smiled and applauded lightly as the squirrel ran off, unharmed.

“Hey, c’mon, there’s our ride.” She said as I spotted the cable car on its way down.

I turned to her. “I’ve almost got the hang of this.”

She shook her head. “C’mon Chris, the cable car, the others are likely waiting.”

I sighed but agreed and together we made our way back to the cable car station.

After some trouble due to it being locked, but I thankfully knowing where the key was, we entered and waited for the cable car to arrive, once it did we both got on and sat down. As the car began taking us up to their destination I smiled.

“Just like going to the prom.” I quipped. “Man, it’s gonna be so weird seeing everyone again.”

Sam nodded with a sigh. “Tell me about it...everything just came rushing back, and...Josh seemed quite excited about the thought of us all doing something together here. I wonder if he...”

“Hey, no, he was seriously psyched for this, I can tell.” I replied with a grin. “I haven’t seen him this amped up in like...forever.”

“Yeah...” Sam replied softly.

There was a pause as we rode in silence for a moment. Then I decided to break it.

“Hey, you know how I met Josh?” I queried, when Sam shook her head I continued. “Alright, it was back in third grade. Josh sat at the back of the room, I sat at the front, neither of us had any idea the other existed. But one day, the kid next to Josh started strap snapping the training bra of the girl in the seat in front. So he got moved down to the front and I got moved to the back.”

Sam raised an eyebrow before prompting. “And…?”

“And next to Josh; that’s how we met and became friends, to this day.”

Sam laughed. “A match made in heaven.”

I shrugged. “ If it weren't for the fact that  Jeannie Simmons hit puberty like, three years early and on that day decided to wear a low-cut shirt that showed off her training bra. I mean who knows? You could be riding in this cable car alone. Right now, or talking to some other person entirely. Boom,  _Butterfly Effect._ ”

Sam nodded slowly, and I was glad to notice I was catching on to my point. That point being that anything could happen, the best bet was to go with the flow and make the most of it.

_**Jess** _

**21:17  
**

Sitting on a bench by the upper cable car station, watching the snow that billowed through the night, I smiled casually, checking my nails, just waiting, passing the time. Funny how I had just on a whim decided to change my hairstyle, I now wore my hair in two dutch braids fastened with indigo hair-ties and was clad in a stone blue casual parka jacket, wearing under it a purple top over a plain ivory-white undershirt and also wore plain denim jeans. I also had dark pink nail polish and wore a simple band on my finger. I remained sitting, now simply passing time on my phone when I heard the cable car arriving and stood up, smiling as I muttered to myself.

“Ah excellent, more people, time to play meet and greet.”

I began walking towards the doors when suddenly I heard a loud thump from them, making me gasp and leap back. It was then I saw Chris and Sam, leaning against the glass.

“Hey, Jess.”

I raised an eyebrow at their antics. “Um, are you guys having a weird stroke or something?”

Sam was the one who replied. “We’re stuck in the here, the door won’t open, can you help us? Pretty please.”  
  
I smiled softly and reached out to press the button on the door controls, opening the doors and allowing them both to stumble out.

“You guys...” I muttered.

Chris shook his head and began remarking playfully. “Oh Thank God, any longer in there I was afraid I was gonna have to chew my own leg off.”

Sam rolled my eyes. “Gross, Chris.”  
  
He just laughed, as did I.

There was a brief pause, when suddenly with a playful sound effect, Chris swiped my letter from my hand.

“Hey, Chris!” I cried out.

He just grinned as he read the note, stepping back out of my reach. “Well, what have we here, oh my?”

Sam shook her head. “Chris come on.”  
  
“It seems our dear Miss Jess has some major feelings for our dear class Prez, Mike.” Chris remarked. “And what kind of sizzling erotica could Jessica be dreaming up I wonder.”  
  
I crossed my arms and shook my head before replying. “Actually, Mike and I are together now, so there.”  
  
Chris and Sam shared a look at that.

“Wow, drama...” Chris remarked.

I shook my head, I had heard things like that so many times. “No, it’s pretty clear cut actually. Emily’s out, I’m in, that’s all, now...my letter.”

Chris shrugged casually and handed it back, before turning to Sam who had moved over to the railing by the cliff edge, smiling widely. I meanwhile rolled my eyes, surprised at people still making such a big deal about Mike and I being together. He had split up with Emily now, he was free to date who he wanted and so was I.

“Wow, have you seen this view, I mean, we’ve been here several times but...” She trailed off and laughed. “When have we ever stopped to really take it all in.”  
  
I casually observed them Chris nodded in agreement. I couldn’t deny, Sam was right, the view was pretty sweet.

Finally Chris turned to the us. “We should really get going, before we freeze out here.”  
  
I shook my head however. “You guys go on ahead, I’m gonna wait here for a while, see if I catch any of the others.”  
  
“Waiting for Mike?” Chris teased good-naturedly.

“What?” I gasped, before recovering and shaking my head. “Oh, you know, whoever.”  
  
Chris laughed and together he and Sam continued onwards.

_**Matt** _

**21:24  
**

Walking up the path that would lead us up to the lodge, having passed the main gate, I closed it behind us, turning to pick up the load of bags while Emily walked by my side, shaking her head.  
“Honestly, they couldn’t have built the lodge right where the ski lift ends.” She said.

I rolled his eyes as I turned to my girlfriend. “Don’t think it would have been as romantic.”

Stifling a laugh at my quip she gestured around. “And where’s the bellboy when you need one?”

I laughed a little at this and we continued to walk, heading towards a covered wooden bridge that would take us across a stream to the next part of the path.

Emily sighed and shook her head. “I’m getting chills...”

I raised an eyebrow at that, we had both dressed up reasonably well for the weather. I was in gray track pants and a light cobalt-blue Letterman jacket over a light jean jacket, and a gray turtleneck. Emily was wearing a white blouse underneath a ribbed dark gray turtleneck and a black leather jacket with fur trim. She also wore black jeans and snow boots with fur trim. She had black nail polish along with a few rings adorning her fingers.

“We’re nearly there.” I said, trying to sound reassuring.

Emily looked at me strangely, before her eyes widened and she shook her head. “Ah, no, I mean...it’s been so long since we were last here and, after what happened last time…”

I realized now what she meant and nodded. “Ah, yeah, I see...Well, hopefully we’ll find some closure this time around.”

Emily smiled lightly, I wondered if she was hoping I was right.

We had just reached the end of the bridge when suddenly a figure leapt out and yelled at  us .  I instinctively dropped the bags, half-crouching defensively, Emily leapt back, screaming. The figure began to laugh and  we finally saw who it was. It was a familiar young man clad in  a flannel jacket underneath a dark blue padded vest, a white tank top undershirt, and a pair of jeans .

“You guys...” He said, still laughing. “You should see your faces.”

Emily was not impressed. “Michael!”

Shaking my head I groaned. Typical of Mike. “Dude, I almost clocked you.”

“C’mon guys, lighten up, we’re in a spooky mountain forest, middle of the night, snow everywhere.” Mike explained. “I’m just trying to get in the spirit of things.”

Emily let out an exasperated sigh. “Spirit of things, really?”

Mike groaned. “Oh come on, Em, don’t be like this.”

“Like what?” She queried, eyes narrowing dangerously.

“Like that, right now.” Mike replied. “The way you’re always being.”

Emily looked affronted by this statement, I bit my lip, pondering.

Finally  I spoke up;  I had to try and cool things down . “Look, Mike,  I'm just gonna lay it out, otherwise this whole weekend's gonna suck ass for everyone. Um, this is super awkward, and we all know it. Let's just, uh, acknowledge it now and move on. Okay? “

Emily shook her head. “Matt-”

“I hear you man.” Mike replied calmly. “I get it, I don’t wanna make this weird.”

I nodded, relaxing. “Cool, so we’re good?”

“All good.”

There was a brief pause after this, as we took a moment to relax.

Emily couldn’t resist  apparently  and joking ly queried.

“You, guys gonna make out now?”

Laughing Mike responded in a mocking  effeminate voice. “ Oh my God, totally, we’re so gonna make out!”

Laughing a bit more he cleared his throat as I raised an eyebrow at his behavior.

“Uh...no.” He replied in his normal voice. “Seriously, I’m gonna go check on the cable car back down the trail.”

So, after saying farewell to us, Mike walked back down the trail. I sighed and began preparing to continue up the trail to the lodge; picking up the bags. Emily glanced back for a moment and bit her lip.

“Oh crap.” She muttered, sounding annoyed.

“What’s wrong?”

She turned to me. “Um, could you...take these up to the lodge for me?”

“What, the bags?” I replied, a little surprised.

She nodded. “Yeah, I...kinda need to, go and, talk to Sam. I was supposed to speak to her before we got up to the lodge.”

I was a little confused. “It  _really_ can’t wait, we’re almost there?”

“I know, just, Matt, please…?” She practically pleaded.

Sighing I smiled. “Alright, no trouble, I’ll pack-horse these the rest of the way up, then you owe me one?”

“Excuse me?” Emily challenged with an amused tone in her voice.

I shrugged. “Or we could say we’re even?”

Laughing lightly and beginning to make her way back, Emily replied. “I’ll think about it.”

With that she headed back down the path while I continued onwards, carrying the bags.

_**Ashley** _

**21:32  
**

The  cold wind practically blasted me as I stood on the  small wooden platform jutting out from the trail that formed the observation deck.  Thankfully I was dressed warmly in  a striped reddish-pink beanie, a light bluish gr a y hoodie worn over a long-sleeved red shirt, blue jean shorts and dark leggings finished the outfit.  Additionally  I wore a pair of red-striped fingerless gloves a green rectangular ring on  my right middle finger, and a silver locket.

“Whoa...” I whispered to myself as I straightened up a little.

I was busy checking out the scenery through the tourist binoculars set up on the deck, usually people had to pay to use things like this, but this one was free. I resumed my observations through the binoculars when I spotted something.

“Hello...” I muttered. _‘Someone is getting friendly, and not in the friend-zone kinda way.’_

I was surprised as I had just spotted Mike and Emily, apparently flirting with each other, they were certainly close. Too close for a relationship that had ended in break-up.

Seeing this I shook mu head. _’Maybe they need to check the expiration date on their big break-up.’_

I was actually surprised, given how public and ‘over the top’ said break up had been, that there was even a chance for lingering feelings to ‘complicate’ matters.

I bit my lip and began to zoom out with the binoculars when Matt leapt up practically in front of me, causing me to see his face, magnified. I screamed and leapt back, as he laughed.

“Whoa...”

I shook my head. “God, Oh my God, Matt.”

He shook his head, approaching as I put a hand to my chest, trying to calm my thumping heart.  
  
“Oh, jeez, I’m sorry Ashley.” He said. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Well, not ‘scare you’ scare, just, give you a little jump.”

I lightly hit his chest as I spoke through gritted teeth. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh...”

As I began calming down however, what Matt said next panicked me again.

“So, what are you looking at, can I see?” He asked, gesturing to the binoculars.

I froze, a sudden debate springing in my mind. A clash between being honest and truthful, or deceiving Matt, if only to spare his feelings. If he saw Mike and Emily, I shuddered at the thought.

In the end I made up my mind. “Um, it’s busted actually, you can’t...really see anything.”

Matt quirked an eyebrow at that. “Huh, for real, c’mon, I bet I could find, like, a cool bear chowing down on a fox or something.”

I persisted, worried about there being a possible fight if Matt saw what I had seen.

But in the end I couldn’t deny him. “Um sure, go ahead...”

So she stepped aside and could only watch as Matt looked through the binoculars and saw Mike and Emily.

“What, are you kidding me, what the hell Em?” He gasped.

Ashley tried to reassure him. “Hey, relax it’s probably just nothing.”

Matt turned to her. “Is it ever just nothing with Em? Well?”  
  
Ashley had no response to that and could only follow Matt as he dejectedly made his way up to the lodge.

_**Kyle** _

**21:38  
**

"I think we're almost there guys." The crunch of snow under my boots was almost cathartic as I trudged up the mountain. It had been just about a year since I was last here. Yet it seemed like so much longer.  
  
"Yeah," I think you're right." The voice came just behind me, to my left.

The owner of the voice was none other than Brian Baker. He was tall, taller than myself with blonde hair, blue eyes and a lanky build. He was also dressed for the cold, with a white, heavy winter coat over a dark sweater, black gloves, a dark coloured hat, jeans, and boots.  
  
Brian is a good guy and one of my better friends. He's 18, like myself. He's talkative and good natured, and it's easy to become comfortable around him.  
  
We're probably more alike than not. My name is Kyle Sherman. I'm only 5'11, I have fair skin, but with a tan from my work over the summer and fall. I have olive green eyes, close cropped reddish-brown hair, and some facial hair, resembling a five-o'clock shadow.  
  
I am dressed in a black long sleeved shirt under a denim jacket, dark jeans, a black beanie and dark boots.  
  
I nodded towards Brian. Brian paused for a moment, before he added. "The mountain seems more... I dunno, majestic, than it did last time."  
  
I looked back at the mountain again. The sun had almost completely gone down, and, indeed, it was shedding last minute light amongst the trees, forcing the mountain to look almost iridescent.  
  
I almost smiled. "Yeah, I agree. What about you, Jamie?"  
  
The third part of our traveling trio is Jamie Townley. He's just shorter than I, at about 5'7, with fair skin, a toned body with a slight paunch, a few moles on his arms and back, and a slight discolouration on his left knee (not that you could see it right now). He has his red hair short and his eyes are hazel in colour.  
  
Of course, he was smart enough to dress for the cold, like us. He wore a dark blue parka jacket over a black sweater and under that a white T-shirt. He also wore jeans, grey fingerless gloves and brown boots.

Unlike Brian and I, Jamie is more on the introverted side. Although, he tries to be a little more social, and when he's with friends like us, for the most part, he is.  
 Although now, he has more reason than just personality to be quiet. The three of us had taken the journey up the mountain, sure, but Brian and I both understood that this place might be the last place Jamie would want to be.  
  
"It's fine, I guess."  
  
It was about all the answer we could expect from him. I could tell that Beth was still on his mind. The rest of us have only been able to watch him struggle with Beth's disappearance and possible death. It was hard for all of us, but none of us were affected as badly as Jamie was; except for Josh. We could only hope that this year, the mountain could be a place for him to heal.  
  
Once Jamie offered what little he had to say, the three of us moved onward. We made a little ways away before I leaned against a tree. "It's getting dark. Maybe we should wait for Sam and Chris?"  
  
Brian nodded in agreement. "That's probably a good idea, all things considered."  
  
Jamie said nothing. He stood with his hands in the pockets of his parka. His head remained downcast. His eyes focused on the snow.  
  
One look from Brian, and I knew we had to get a dialogue going. I cleared my throat while Brian whistled nervously.  
  
I decided it would be up to me to start. "So, uh, how you holding up, Jamie?"  
  
Jamie paused for a moment before lifting his gaze to mind. I couldn't interpret his expression. "I'm fine."  
  
"Are you sure?" Brian began tentatively.  
  
Jamie bit his lip. Perhaps he was reconsidering. After another breath, he sighed. "Maybe not. I can't stop thinking of last year. Like it was yesterday. The three of us and Beth, and... It just gets too much sometimes, you know?"  
  
Neither Brian nor I knew what to say. The tragedy that happened last year hit us all hard, but again, apart from Josh no one took it as hard as Jamie. Nobody knew what to say, but I knew that simple words weren't going to help.  
  
I gazed out into the horizon. The sun had all but disappeared. It was going to be dark soon, almost too dark to see. "I hope Sam and Chris aren't too far behind."  
  
"I can feel my ears burning."  
  
I quickly shifted my gaze from the horizon and down the slope. Sure enough, I caught the amused glint in Sam's gaze, and as well as the smiling face of Chris. I moved from the tree and approached the duo.  
  
"Sam!"  
  
Sam smiled as I brought her in for a hug. Beside me I could hear Chris greeting Brian and Jamie and they returned the favour.  
  
After a moment, Sam and I pulled away. "Were you guys waiting for us?"  
  
"Yeah," I nodded. "I thought we'd wait for you guys. We're almost to the lodge anyway, I didn't want you guys to stumble around in the dark."  
  
"So, you thought we'd all stumble in the dark together?" she retaliated with a light coating of humour.  
  
I shrugged. She had me beat, like usual. "Exactly."  
  
"Well," she kissed my cheek, "thanks for waiting."  
  
I smiled bashfully, but it seemed like we took a little too long.   
  
"Alright, love birds," Chris called. "Hurry it up. It's getting dark."  
  
"Yeah, yeah." I waved him off exaggeratedly. "We're coming."  
  
Sam and I separated and walked over to our friends. Then, the five of us scrambled up the rest of the way to the lodge.

_**Jess** _

**21:41  
**

I sighed as I continued to wait by the upper cable car station. I was still trying to process what I had seen, I just prayed there was an innocent explanation, but my mind wouldn’t let up. I decided to act normally however, until a chance to get answers presented itself. After absently sitting twiddling my thumbs for a moment I decided to pass the time picking up my book. I picked it up and began to read. I hadn’t read more than half a page when suddenly a snowball impacted on the wall next to me. I let out a startled yelp.

“You did not just do that.” I remarked, laughing.

Mike laughed and put on a mock southern accent. “Surrender and come out with your hands where we can see them, we got you surrounded.”

He bent down to form a snowball and, thinking quickly, I grabbed an already prepared snowball from the nearby railing. I hid it behind my back and then made my way towards the steps leading down to the small clearing.

“Oh, but what am I, a supple young rebel girl to do...other than surrender to the strapping military commander come to take me into custody?” I replied in a similar accent.

Mike smirked and stepped forwards, I took my chance to throw the snowball, hitting him and making him yell out startled.

“Gotcha!” I cried, darting for cover at a nearby picnic bench and table.

Mike shook his head, throwing the snowball he held. “Nice try!”  
“Oh snap.”

I ducked just in time to dodge it. They both took cover, grabbing fresh snowballs.

Mike laughed and called out teasingly.

“Where are you, kitty?”

I grinned. “You’re mine, Mike!”

I leapt out and threw my snowball, striking Mike again, laughing I moved, dodging again and getting another snowball. I peeked out, Mike was hiding behind a tree, nearby was a bird. I paused for a moment. I knew if I threw a snowball at the bird, it would startle Mike out of his hiding place.

‘ _But then I won’t have a snowball to use on him...Plus, poor bird, it doesn’t deserve that.’_ I reflected.

So I abstained, allowing the bird to fly away and when Mike leapt out, I dodged the snowball he threw and threw mine, striking him again.

“I’m gonna get you.”

I shook my head, trying to form another snowball, but then I was tackled and lay on my back, with Mike kneeling above me, grinning.

“You’re done!” He called out with a laugh. “Done city!”

L aughing in response,  I replied. “Wow, so, did I go down?”

Mike raised an eyebrow. “I think you did well enough, Miss Jess the snowball queen.”

“Okay that sounds vaguely dirty.” I commented; deciding to let my earlier concerns go for now.

We both laughed and then, after a slightly longer pause, we kissed deeply. We parted at last and I gasped.

“Whoa, save some for later buddy.”

Mike just grinned. “Endless reserves.”

I nodded before replying. “We should probably get going, the others are wait ing, or we could just stay out here.”

“I would gladly stay out here, provided I was making out with you the whole time.” Mike said calmly as he helped me up.

“Just making out?” I queried.

Mike shrugged and replied jokingly. “Quote, unquote.”

Rolling my eyes Jess added. “We’d probably die somewhere between those quotes.”

Together we proceeded onwards, finally heading up to the lodge to join the others.


	3. Chapter 2: Darkness

**Until Dawn: The Light of Day**

**Chapter 2: Darkness**

**Nine Hours Until Dawn  
**

_**Chris** _

**22:00  
**

Now standing just outside the lodge, along with Sam, Kyle, Jamie and Brian, I fought to catch my breath from the climb. We weren’t alone either, we had been met outside the lodge by Josh himself.

“Boy, every time I climb this mountain it feels bigger.” I remarked.”

“Oh yeah?” Josh queried, raising an eyebrow. “It feels the same to me.”

Like the rest of us Josh was dressed up against the cold weather in a pair of jeans, a knit wool beanie, black boots and a sleeveless puffer jacket, under said jacket he was wearing a dark brown shirt underneath a flat-collared blue and white plaid-styled unbuttoned shirt.

I laughed at Josh’s comment and replied. “C’mon, you practically grew up here, it, it probably feels like it’s shrinking.”

“Maybe.” Josh conceded with a wry laugh.

He nodded in greeting to Sam and the others, who all smiled back and we made our way further up, heading towards the front steps of the lodge. As we walked I pulled out my phone and shook my head.

“Man, when are you gonna get some cell towers installed up here, I’m getting withdrawals already.”

Josh smirked and joked. “You got a spare million lying around and I’ll fix you right up.”

Laughing I pretended to pat down my pockets. “Funny you should say that...Ah, I think I left it in my other jacket.”

“Oops.” Josh quipped, playing along.

We walked up to the foot of the lodge, Ashley was already there, seated on the steps and Matt stood nearby.

Josh grinned as he greeted them. “ Hey guys... Get up here okay?”

“Yeah... well more or less. But it's so good to see you!” Ashley replied making me smile.

Josh meanwhile looked confused. “ 'Sup with him?”

He was talking about  Matt  who simply stood there looking upset and not convers ing. Ashley njust shook her head, indicating we shouldn’t ask.

We quickly moved around, Jamie and Brian choosing to hang out near the foot of the stairs. While Kyle, Matt and Sam moved a little further down the path, Sam and Kyle going as far as the gate and leaning on it. Ashley remained seated on the stairs while Josh and I approached the door.

I bounded up the last few steps to join Josh on the front porch.  
  
“Yo, yo, yo!” I cried out excitedly. “Are we gonna get things moving up here or what?”

“Yeah man!” Josh replied, just as enthusiastic.

There was however a slight edge to his voice that I noticed.

I began to feel concerned. “Hey...you doin’ alright, I mean, it must be really tough without your sis-”

“Stop.”

Silently cursing my mistake I tried to recover. “I just meant that-”

“No, I know what you meant.” Josh said reassuringly. “You know, seriously, I’m over it, and I just want us to have a really good time, you know? Like we always used to.”

I nodded, feeling relieved and waited as Josh attempting to unlock the door.

“Dammit, this freaking thing.” He muttered angrily.

I stepped forwards, raising an eyebrow. “It’s iced?”

“What else?”

Thinking for a moment, I then made a suggestion. “Maybe there’s another way in.”

Josh shrugged and stated. “There are a million ways in, they’re just all locked.”

“There’s gotta be, like, a window round the can get, like, get open, or something.” I said in reply, not to be discouraged.

Josh turned me, incredulous. “Wait a second, are you saying we should break in?”

I shook my head, stammering slightly. “I don’t think it’s technically breaking in if you own the place, right?”

“Hey, not if I don’t report you.” Josh replied, laughing at my unease to show he was joking before speaking again. “Lead the way, Cochise.”

I just sighed and turned, starting to head down the steps.

On the way down I stopped and turned to Ashley, biting my lip as my heart suddenly sped up, I couldn’t deny she looked nice, even all bundled up against the cold..

“Hey Ash...” I greeted somewhat awkwardly.

She smiled and returned his greeting. “Hi Chris.”

I thought briefly before replying. “So...how’re you doing?”

“Mm...good.” She replied with a slight shrug. “But, a little cold. I think I could use some time curled up by the fire.”

I smiled gently at that. “Yeah, that does sound pretty nice.”

She also smiled at that and I stepped down, seeing his expression Josh nodded and waited while I went to talk to Matt. It had, after all, been a whole year since the two of us had seen each other.

I greeted him enthusiastically. “ Matt! Been a while. Rough season, huh?”

“Yeah, something like that...” He replied shortly.

“Hey.. you okay, man?” I asked, concerned.

He sighed heavily. “ Some people, you know? You think you know 'em.”

“Ooooh-kaaay....”

Matt nodded and, seeing Sam trying to get my attention, I excused myself and walked over to her.

Once I reached her Sam asked me suddenly.

“So, you seen Ash yet?”

“Ummm, yeah?” replied, taken aback.

Nodding, Sam continued. “Cool, cool...how’s uh, how’s she doing?”

Her tone and even the questions themselves confused ME. “She’s...fine, why?”  
  
“Oh, no reason.” Sam replied, turning although she shared a look with Kyle; the two of them holding hands.

Shrugging at this, yet thinking it was actually quite sweet seeing them together like this, I turned back and went to join Josh again, we began to walk along the path at the side of the lodge, looking to go around it and see if we could find a way in. Once out of earshot of the others however, Josh turned to me grinning.

“Ashley was looking pretty hot today, right?” He said teasingly. “She’s like a ‘sleeper hit’ kinda gal, you know?”

I paused startled and a little uneasy.

Josh’s next comment made me even more so. “Now I just wanna rip that parka right off her and...make some snow angels, right?”

“H-hey, cut it out, man-” I protested, a little startled.

Josh just laughed and held up his hands. “I mean, if you don’t wanna bang her, maybe...Mike’ll take up the case.”

I narrowed my eyes. “W-Will you back off already?”

Josh simply laughed, shaking his head and gently eased me.

“Relax man, I’m just...checking to see if there’s some blood flowin’ down there.” He stated jokingly.

I shook my head, exasperated. “Yeah...”

There was a brief pause, before Josh sighed.

Josh then decided he had to emphasize his point, it seemed, going by his next words

“Listen dude. Look around you. Look at these beautiful mountains. Do you see any parents? I mean can you imagine a more perfect, ripe scenario, just dripping with erotic possibilities?” He stated, announcing. “You, and Ashley, alone at last... You've laid all the groundwork, you've been a perfect gentleman. Now you come in for the kill!”

I smiled lightly and sighed. “Maybe you’re right.”

Josh grinned and added. “You are a hunter bro. No fear, no mercy, I mean, she won’t even know what hit her.”

We both laughed at that.

“Alright, alright, I got it. Jeez.” I replied, holding up a hand.

Satisfied Josh nodded and together we resumed our search, as they did so Josh queried.

“So, how are we planning on breaking into my parents’ lodge, bud?”

I grimaced lightly. “Wait, I didn’t say _I_ had a plan-”

“You sounded like you had a plan.” Josh replied; before joking. “You better deliver, Cochise, or else you got four lovely ladies who are gonna be freezing their buns off and last time I checked, that’s not a good way to get laid.”

“Well shoot, nobody likes cool buns.” I shot back.

Both of us laughed again as we continued.

As we walked, I stopped as I noticed something, at the side of the lodge was a holder for a fire axe, but the glass was broken and the axe, disturbingly, missing.

“Hmmm...” I muttered, biting my lip.

Josh nodded. “Don’t worry about that, it’s been missing for ages.”

I nodded, reassured and then, just to the right, I saw it, just what we needed. There was a window I could see that was unlocked, and nearby was a cabinet that could be moved underneath the window, with a bit of elbow grease. I gestured to the cabinet, drawing Josh’s attention and then moved to shove it.

Josh went to the other end and took hold. “Well, well, well, we got ourselves a thinker, nice one.”

Working together we moved the cabinet beneath the window, I then climbed up and nearly overbalanced.

“Whoa...” I muttered, but managed to right myself.

Nodding to Josh I pulled open the window. Looking through I could see it led to the garage. I began to climb through the window, only to tumble unceremoniously, landing on the floor with a yelp. Groaning I lay there as Josh climbed the cabinet quickly and held onto the windowsill, looking down.

“Ugh, I’m okay.” I replied quickly. “I should have paid more attention in climbing class...”  
  
Josh looked a little perplexed by that. “Uh...you mean ‘gym’?”

Standing up I nodded. “Yeah, you know, with the climbing up the rope-”

My words were cut short when, with a loud pop, the light bulb smashed, plunging the room into darkness.

I looked around startled, Josh was surprised too.

“Whoa?” He gasped.

Suddenly feeling awkward I looked up to Josh. “Uh, did I do that?”

“I don’t...I don’t, think so.” Josh replied; before pulled out and throwing a lighter to me. “Here, use this.”

I caught it and ignited it, providing myself with at least some light to see by. Looking at the lighter Josh’s eyes widened and he grinned.

“Whoa, I, I just got an awesome idea.” He said quickly.

“Yeah?”

“Totally.”

I nodded. “Well, what is it?”

Josh began explaining. “Okay. So. I am PRETTY sure that I've got deodorant in one of the bathrooms... you could use THAT with the LIGHTER...”

“I don’t...I don’t follow.” I replied, shaking my head. “How’s a stick of deodorant gonna help?”

Josh looked amused as he replied. “Spray on, it’s a can.”

Realization dawned on I. “Oh, yeah, now I gotcha.”

“Flamethrower.”

I grinned. “Just like we did with the lil’ army dudes.”

Josh grinned as he too recalled the fun we had, torching the plastic army men.

“Yup, the ones we melted.” He said with a grin. “Just point the spray-can at the lighter then...FWOOSH.”

“Bye-bye frozen lock.”

“Bingo, alright so you got this.” Josh remarked, he glanced back to the front of the lodge. “I'm gonna go sort something out. You up for hunting around in the dark a little bit?”

I sighed but shrugged. “Nope, but I’ll do it.”

“Godspeed pilgrim.” Josh shot back with a John Wayne impression.

Josh then jumped down from the cabinet, out of sight, leaving me to wander the dark alone.

I began making  my way through the lodge, looking around, remembering so many things from the previous trips here. Some things stood out, catching  my eye, namely a newspaper fragment about an arrested convict with a grudge against Josh’s parents.  I couldn’t deny that worried  me , especially in light of recent findings, such as the wanted poster and missing axe. This was despite Josh’s assurances.

‘ _Well, what do we have here, huh...’_ I thought to myself, but stopped.

I smiled wistfully as, on  my way up to the main floor,  I spotted a family portrait, showing all the Washingtons, including Hannah and Beth.  Just then  I jumped as  I heard a strange noise.  
  
“Huh, what the hell was that?”  I muttered.

Anxiously  I continued onwards, opening the door and entering the main part of the house.  In the main hall  I continued to look around.  I stopped by the front door, glancing out the small window,  I could see  Sam and Ashley standing just outside, talking together. Smirking at the chance for a small prank,  I ducked out of sight.  Waiting for my moment I choose it and began.

“WOOOooOOooooOOO!”

They both jumped, but then...

“Hi Chris, very funny.” Sam remarked at once, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

I let out a small groan. “How’d you know it was me?”

Sam just pointed out. “Shouldn’t you be, like, getting the lock open or something?”

“On it!”

With that I resumed my journey through the house, it was clear the power was gone in the whole place now, not just the garage.

My journey through the house, interrupted by me looking around, lost in memories, led me to some strange things, such as a rather unsettling answer phone message. It seemed the wanted man I had heard about was released from prison not too long ago and was on the loose. The message had been from a police officer, warning Josh’s mother.

Other things were less worrying and produced pleasant sights, a picture of Hannah, Emily, Mike and Sam at prom, a picture of Josh, Hannah and Beth at the beach and finally a film trophy Josh’s dad had won. I actually remembered it, I had gone with the Washingtons to the ceremony where it was won.

‘ _Wow, feels like so long ago...so many memories.’_ I thought; before shaking myself out of complacency. _‘Okay, stop dawdling Chris, you got a lock to heat up.’_

Quickly recovering I made his way through to the bathroom. I immediately went to and opened the cabinet beneath the sink and saw the deodorant can in front of me. Smiling I went to take it, just as hmy hand closed around it a furry, sharp toothed creature leapt from the cabinet with a roar and ran from the room.

“AHHH, SON OF A-!” I cried out in shock and alarm as I fell to the ground.

Recovering I stood, staring out of the door. “What the fuck!”

I blinked and then looked down, I still had the can. “Ahh, perfect.”

I picked up the lighter and lit it again and made my way back to the front door.

Waiting outside I could hear the girls as they did their best to stay warm against the cold.

All the same, Ashley couldn’t help but complain. “We’re freezing our buns off out here!”  
  
It was then they spotted me through the glass as I got to work, using the deodorant and lighter to burn the ice off the lock. I put the items aside and opened the door, the handle was still hot, making me wince but I recovered well and gave a mock bow.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week-” I joked making the girls roll their eyes.

Suddenly at that moment, the creature from the bathroom darted out through the door, startling me and the girls, me more so.

“EEEK!” I cried out, not in a very manly way. “Jeez!”

Sam and Ashley laughed at that while I shook my head, trying to recover.

“Crap that thing freaked me out.” He muttered.

“What was it, are you okay?” Ashley asked, concerned.

Shrugging I shook my head. “It was like a bear or a tiger or something.”

“Aw...” Sam replied in a cutesy tone. “It was just a cute little baby wolverine.”  
  
“Baby?” I shot back incredulously.

Josh had, by this point, reached the top of the stairs, with Matt and Kyle just behind him.

“Don’t worry buddy, you’re gonna be a big boy soon.” He teased.

I just groaned and the rest of them finally entered the lodge.

_**Matt** _

**22:28  
**

Entering the darkened lodge, Josh smiled widely as he gestured widely.

“Home, sweet home.”  
  
I shook my head, a little creeped out by the lodge in darkness. “Sweet is not the word I’d use.”

Ashley shivered and blew on her hands. “Oh my gosh, it’s SO GOOD to be inside. Even if it’s still kinda freezing in here.”  
  
“I’ll get a fire going.” Josh offered happily.

He knelt down by the fireplace and began setting up the fire. Meanwhile, Sam and Kyle moved over to the stairs leading to the upper floor, sitting down on them, let out a relaxed sigh, with Sam even snuggling into his side. I stopped for a moment and looked around at the lodge.

“This place barely looks any different.” I noted.

“Nobody’s been up here.” Josh replied with a shrug.

Ashley turned at that, a little surprised. “Even with all the police coming in and out?”

Josh nodded and Chris clarified.

“Not a lot of action up here lately.”  
  
Josh nodded in agreement. “Nope.”

Chris and Ashley walked over to join Sam and Kyle, although they simply remained standing by the stairs. Meanwhile I remained by the fireplace while Josh continued to work on setting up and lighting the fire.

It was at that moment Mike and Jess entered.

“What’s up party people!”

Jess had an equal grin as she also greeted everyone. “Heeey!”  
  
Josh greeted them enthusiastically; as did the others except for me and Ashley, I tensed when I saw Mike and glowered as I recalled what I had seen, through the telescope.

“Make yourself at home, bro.” Josh was saying cheerfully.

Jess sat down on the sofa while Mike began to go and join her, replying. “Will do.”

Unable to help myself, I stood up, glaring. “Yeah. Come on in. Take a load off. Have whatever you want.”

Mike stopped, clearly taken aback by but at the moment I didn’t care. The others had noticed this too and tensed, but likewise, I was beyond caring right now.

“You just take whatever you want anyways, right?” I continued.

Mike held up his hands and shook his head. “Whoa, easy there cowboy.”

Glaring MaItt cut right to the heart of the matter. “What the hell were you doing with Em out on the trail, huh?”

“What?”

“I saw you and Em, through the telescope.” I explained.

Mike raised an eyebrow at this and replied casually. “Before? We just ran into each other. It'd been a while so we hugged and I said hello. Is that against the law?”

Silence followed his statement for a while.

But I couldn't take this anymore; I don’t know what exactly happened, something inside me just snapped.

“Quit being such a dick, man, nobody wants you here-”

Mike glared and shot back. “ Seriously, what's your problem, meathead?”

That was it. “ You son of a bitch-”

I just reacted, grabbing him by the head.

“Hey! Hey! Get off of me!” Mike yelled

“HEY!”

Josh suddenly intervened, breaking us apart.

“What the hell is wrong with you two? We didn't come back here just to tear each others heads off. I mean, we came back here to have a good time, right?” He snapped before sighing. “Hey, Mike, why don't you and Jess go check out the guest cabin I told you about.”

“Yeah... Yeah, cool.” He replied quickly.“You want to head up there?”

“Sure.” Jess replied; but something in her expression was strange.

I brushed it aside however, too focused instead on Emily’s arrival. She walked in, acting like nothing had happened. I bit my lip, realizing how I had acted in front of the others.

Trying to defuse the tension I turned back to Josh. “ So Josh, uh, should we get this fire going?”

Josh smiled at my awkward attempt to pretend nothing had happened.

“Where’s my bag?” Emily asked suddenly.

Everyone tensed at that and I turned to her quickly, it was clear there was another drama oncoming.

“Huh?” I replied; worried.

“My bag!” She emphasized. “The little bag with the pink pattern. The one I got on Rodeo!”

Silence greeted her and she shook her head.

“Matt are you listening?” She demanded. “Oh my god, don’t you remember? Next to the Italian shoe place where I got the stilettos and you knocked over the rack while you were drooling all over that girl at the counter?”

I quickly walked towards Emily, getting defensive.

“Well, I mean, she was asking about my letter jacket-” I stated quickly; I couldn’t believe she was bringing this up now.

Emily rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically. “Right, because she gave a shirt about your ‘designer’ letter jacket.”

I gave a short gasp as he responded at once. “Why do you hate my jacket?”

“MATT, I need MY BAG!” She shot back.

I looked around, but everybody was all staying out of it, leaving me to handle things alone. Probably what I deserved after what I’d just pulled but still.

I tried to reason with her.

“Oh my God, Em, maybe you just forgot it-”

She didn’t respond well to that however. “Do you seriously think I’d forget my bag?”

“Well, I-”  
  
Do you?” She demanded.

I sighed. “Guess not.”  
  
Nodding, satisfied she stated calmly. “You must of left it down by the cable car station.”

I let out a groan and she quickly responded.  
  
“C’mon hun, we’ll be back soon.” She told me.

“And then we can get warm?” I queried, already tired of arguing _and_ freezing my ass off.

She grinned and remarked suggestively. “We can get  _very_ warm.”

I nodded and agreed at last and together they left, preparing to head back to the cable car station.  


_**Jamie** _

**22:40  
**

With Matt and Emily having left now I looked around, feeling a little overwhelmed. Standing up from where she and Kyle and been sitting.

“Okay, I’m gonna go take a bath.” She said casually.

With that she headed upstairs while Kyle moved to join Chris and Ashley as they sat on the sofa. Josh meanwhile returned to the fire.

I sighed. “I’m going out for some air.”

“Hold on man, I’ll come with you.” Brian said with a smile.

I wasn’t sure if I really wanted company right now, but in the end I accepted and together Brian and I headed outside, now standing on the balcony looking out the back of the lodge. In the distances an old shed was just visible. I leaned on the railing as Brian stood nearby.

I sighed. “You know Brian, I don’t mean any disrespect but...You didn’t have to come out here with me?”

Brian nodded. “I know I just...okay look, I’m not gonna beat about the bush. I was worried about you man, so is Kyle. I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

I bowed my head at that and sighed. “It’s just hard you know; not knowing what happened to Beth. Knowing that...took part in that stupid prank and probably got Beth and Hannah killed.”  
  
“Hey whoa, Jamie.” Brian interrupted me. “Don’t go thinking like that, okay...”  
  
I sighed, I wished it was that simple.

Shaking my head I explained.

“Brian; you weren’t part of it. You don’t know.” I told him. “Beth was furious, I...I can’t believe I did that, no wonder she was angry at me. But that was the last time we saw each other.”

Brian sighed sadly. “I get where you’re coming from. But hey, we’re all feeling guilty over this. What matters is we do everything we can to get through it together. I know you’re still grieving Beth, but you’re not alone, you have all of us.”

I bit my lip and then smiled. “I, thanks Brian...You’re right; I...”  
  
“Whoa, Jamie!” Brian gasped.

I started and saw he was looking to the distance. I followed his gaze and froze when I saw it; standing there, out on the trail, just within sight, was a person.

“There shouldn’t be anyone else here. Who the hell is that?” I whispered.

Brian shook his head. “I don’t like this...maybe we should um...”  
  
I sighed. “We need to know more, c’mon.”  
  
So, while Brian was somewhat reluctant and concerned, he agreed with Jamie and they both hurried down, following the figure as he began to walk away.

_**Mike** _

**22:43  
**

Exiting the lodge into the frigid night, Jess and I stood on the back porch, Jess approached the edge of the porch while I sighed.

“Exiled.” I stated blandly.

Jess gave me a wicked smile as she joked. “You mean, Sex-iled?”  
  
I laughed at that. “Works for me.”

It was at times like this I appreciated Jess all the more. I approached her as she began rubbing her arms, shivering in the cold.

“Brr...how far is this ‘cabin’ anyway?” She asked; a sceptical note in her voice.

Laughing I wrapped my arms around her and began to explain.

“This cabin, is the cosiest most romantic, love den you will ever lay your eyes upon.”

“Psh...” She shook her head, playfully shoving me. “If we ever make it.”

I shrugged casually, leaning on the balcony ledge. “Oh, I have a feeling luck’s on our side.”

Laughing at this Jess remarked teasingly. “Play your cards right and maybe you will get lucky.”  
  
I grinned at that and straightened up, we were both prepared to get going. Just then Josh opened the door and leaned out.

“Hey, porn stars!” He called out to us, throwing something to us. “You’re gonna need these.”  
  
Jess caught it revealing it was the keys to the cabin.

She raised an eyebrow at Josh’s comment however and queried. “Porn star?”

Josh stepped out, laughing. “I’d pay to see it.”

“Uh, gross?” She replied; shaking her head.

Josh just laughed again.

He then turned to me and sighed.

“Sorry to kick you out like that-” He began.

But I just casually waved my hand; I understood and it wouldn’t be a complete loss. “No worries man.”

Nodding Josh remarked suggestively. “Oh I’m sure you’ll find a way to entertain yourselves.”

“Mmm-hmmm.” Jess replied, doing her best to ignore his suggestive comment. “Well, you have fun with the peanut gallery.”

Laughing Josh mimed a gun shot to the head and began to make his way back inside.

“Oh, almost forgot.” He said, stopping suddenly and gesturing. “Gotta fire up the generator so you can see where you’re going, it’s dark out there.”

With that he headed back inside while I nodded and prepared to begin. Smirking Jess turned to me and remarked.

“You know, I think Josh was flirting with me.”

“Mmkay...” I replied before joking. “You want to invite him up with us?”

“Wait really?” Jess replied.

“What?” I gasped, shaking my head. “No!”

She just laughed and headed down onto the trail, I followed her, pulling out and turning on my flashlight, noting she had stopped. I approached her, confused until she turned, smiling widely as she held out her phone.

“Hey, Hot lips. Photobooth?” She offered.

Laughing eagerly I replied. “Alright, read my mind.”

I took the phone and we prepared for a selfie together, I soon took it and Jess took the phone back, examining it.

Jess grinned widely. “Oh my god, this is perfect! We’re like, the cutest couple!”

“Damn, you should be a model.” I replied as I too observed the pictures.

Jess smiled coquettishly. “You keep that camera handy and maybe I’ll let you start my portfolio...at the cabin.”

“Wink, noted!”

Jess then began to move along the path again.

Walking along she called out.

“Okay, let’s go, I’ve got cabin fever.” She paused briefly before rubbing her arms through her jacket again. “Brr, it’s freezing out here…!”  
  
“Now that’s something I can help you with.” I told her confidently.

Jess was clearly liking the direction this conversation was going for she then fired back. “And how’re you gonna do that!?”

I grinned and said cheerfully. “I’ve got a few things in mind.”  
  
As we walked on, heading for the shed where the generator waited, Jess shook her head.

“So what the heck was all that muscle flexing with you and Matt?” She queried.

I shook my head, glaring, still angry about that.

“What a dick, right? Dude has no business coming at me like that.” I growled. “If he's got any brain in his huge dumb melon he better find it and use it or he's gonna get wrecked.”

Jess’  eyes widened at that. “ Wow. Nasty Mikey.”

“Just... riled up.” I tried to explain.

But then she smiled. “ Me likey.”

I also smiled at that before we walked onwards.

I entered the generator shed after our little talk and, finding the latch I opened it and, carefully observing the controls I soon flipped the switch and fired it up, turning on the lights.

“Boom, nice one Mikey!”

Jess cheered. “Woo! You are a wizard!”  
  
We headed over to the gate and I opened it, together we headed through and began crossing the wooden bridge over the stream.

Deciding to add a little ‘mood’ to our walk, Jess turned on some music on her phone.

“Pretty good right?”  
  
I nodded. “Yeah totally! This is...awesome.”

“Awww yeah, I bring the hits.” Jess replied enthusiastically. “You psyched yet? You don’t looked psyched yet!”

Laughing at her infectious enthusiasm I reassured her. “I am so psyched right now!”

“It’s a like a little adventure.” She continued cheerfully. “a sexcapade.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. Although the laughter died away as Jess and I stopped, noticing police tape wrapped around some trees.

“Police tape...” Jess began to question him.

I sighed. “From Hannah and Beth.”

Shifting uncomfortably Jess remarked softly. “You’d think they’d clean it up...”

Shrugging I explained. “Well, they never closed the investigation.”

“Okay, I’m gettin’ the creeps now.” Jess replied, with a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold.

I nodded slowly; I understood Jess clearly felt guilty about what happened to the Washington sisters.

Doing my best to reassure her, and be respectful I spoke. “Well, wherever they are...I'm sure they're happy we're all thinking about them.”

She smiled gently. “That’s...a nice way of thinking about it.”

Trying to put the unease behind us, we continued onwards.

It was then two things happened in quick succession which caused  us concern. The first was a scream  we could hear in the distance, which disturbed both of  us . The second was finding a tree blocking  our path

“Ah damn.” I muttered. “I don’t think we can get up to the cabin with the path blocked like this-”

Jess shook her head vehemently at that. “Oh no way am I going back to the lodge a.k.a. wax museum to drink hot chocolate with Emily.”

As she spoke she began to walk the other way, along a separate fork in the path. “You know what? Fuck it. We're adventurous. We will find another way around.”

By this time I had joined her, and we had entered what appeared to be an abandoned mineshaft entrance, with a wooden waist high barrier blocking the way forwards. Jess leaned on it, only for the rotting timbers to break and for her to fall, screaming.

“JESS!” I cried out. “Fuck!, Hey, Jessica!”

I darted to the edge to find her standing up, breathing heavily but apparently unharmed.

“Yep!” She called out, turning around. “Hey, I’m okay!”  
  
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Holy crap, you scared the heck out of me.”

Brushing herself off Jess shot back. “How do you think I felt!!”

“Er, you didn’t hit your head or anything?” I questioned, still worried.

With an impish grin Jess replied. “As far as I can tell, I still have all seven of my limbs.”

“Yeah...” I replied with a small laugh at her sexual reference. “Can you get out?”

She looked behind her and bit her lip. “Uhhh, I don’t know. I can hardly see anything down here!”

I pondered for the smallest of moments, on my course of action.

Truthfully , it was a no-brainer.

“Alright, comin’ after ya, just stay put!”

With that I jumped down. Landing on the ground I joined Jess who smiled, obviously impressed with my actions.

“Hey handsome, wanna help me move this cart thing?” She asked playfully, gesturing to the mine cart blocking the path.

“Alright.” I said and began pushing. “Help me move it, help me move it.”

Jess agreed and together we were able to push the cart, although it was still an effort.

“When I imagined us grunting together...” I quipped. “This is not what I pictured.”

Jess laughed at that and soon we were able to get around the cart and continue our walk through the mine. However it was then we heard a rumble and another mine cart came around the corner, barreling towards us. We both cried out but I was able to catch the cart and stop it.

“Holy crap!” Jess screamed. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?”

Wincing, I nodded. “Ah, yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”

We glanced back at the mine carts and hurried onwards.

“Woah nellie, this place is givin' me the willies. And not the good kind of willies.” Jess remarked.

Smiling I replied. “Can I offer you a little comfort and reassurance?”

Jess just laughed and said. “Save it for the cabin, buster.”

We walked onwards.

I happened to spot something to the right of us, on a dead end path, so I went to examine it, with Jess following, wondering what had piqued my curiosity.

“Huh...stogie.” I revealed as I picked up the cigar stub that had been sitting on an oil drum.

Jess arched an eyebrow, confused. “Weird place to hang out and smoke cigars.”

I also noticed something else. “It’s recent, wonder who was up here...”

I trailed off as I put it down, for my flashlight had suddenly illuminated a strange symbol on the wall.

“Whoa, this place is like...historical.” I gasped upon seeing it.

Jess too couldn’t help but be amazed. “Holy bat cave.”

I nodded. “It’s gotta be Native American, right?”

Jess shrugged and we quickly returned to the path and continued making their way through the mine. Their trip was uneventful, save for a plank of wood nearly falling on top of us, and the discovery of a map, dated 1952, which showed the place was in danger of structural collapse, all of which certainly made us more edgy. But to our relief, we finally found our way out of the mine and back onto the path, revealing the cabin in the distance.

Eyeing the cabin Jess let out a low whistle.

“Well, well, when Josh said ‘cabin’ I thought like, Abe Lincoln.” She joked.

Caught up in her mood, I replied. “Wait’ll you see the Lincoln Bedroom.”

“Oh, are you planning to get presidential on me?”

“Wanna take a ride on Air Force One?” I joked.

Shaking her head Jess replied. “Alright, alright, save it for the stump speech buddy.”

It was then she spotted an observation telescope and hurried over to it excited, looking through it all the while cheerfully muttering to herself.

“Gonna look at the trees... gonna look at the clouds... gonna look at the cabi-... Uh. Whoa.”

She stepped back, shocked.

“Y’alright?” I asked, concerned.

Jess bit her lip. “I just saw someone at the cabin.”

I looked through himself but saw nothing.  I did his best to reassure Jess it was just them and she reluctantly accepted this before they headed through the nearby gate and onwards down another trail.  They hadn’t gone far when a bird suddenly jumped out at them, startling  me .

“Watch out, bird-brain.” Jess laughed.

I shook his head and offered up, as an excuse; quickly trying to recover my dignity. “I was just...answering its mating call.”

Laughing even more Jess shot back. “Wow, you’re easy.”

“Yeah, got a lotta love to give.”

Still chuckling Jess continued onwards while I muttered to himself.

“I was scared.”

We continued until they found yet another tree blocking their path.

Frustrated  I almost felt like yelling.

“Goddamnit Josh, couldn’t you have at least cleared out the path before sending us up here?” I complained to no one in particular.

“Really?” Jess remarked incredulously; explaining when I got confused. “I didn’t figure you for the glass half-empty type.”

“You got a better idea.”

Grinning Jess took a couple of steps back. “Stand back, Debbie Downer.”

With that she run up to the tree and vaulted up, climbing to the top of the fallen tree trunk.

“Oh boooo!”, Show off.” I remarked in response.

“Hey Mike.” Jess said, standing up straight. “You got something on your face.”

I reached up to his face then Jess suddenly threw a snowball, hitting me square in the face.

“Boom!” She cried out.

“Okay, okay?” I said as he recovered, making my own snowball. “Well, if that’s how it’s gonna be.”

I turned around, ready to throw, only to find Jessica gone from the tree trunk.

“Jess?”

Suddenly I heard a scream, a scream I instantly recognized.

“Jess!?”

_**Sam** _

**22:44  
**

I was upstairs in the bathroom, adjusting the taps at the bathtub and shaking my head. I checked the water with my hand, sighed and adjusted the taps some more.

“Sammy!” Josh suddenly called up from back in the main room.

I straightened up and called back. “Whaaaaat?”  
  
“You wanna help me get this fire going?”

I bit her lip and casually admitted. “Ummm, well, I was just getting into the bath-”

There was a brief pause before Josh replied teasingly. “Oh! Well, do you need any help with that, I’m sure Kyle would...?”

“Hardy har.” I groaned in reply, rolling my eyes and sighing.

I tried the taps again and checked the water, I was turning on the hot tap, but getting no hot water.

“Come on.” I muttered; before sighing. “Alright Josh, let’s see if you know how to hook up the hot water in your big fancy lodge.”

I turned and left the bathroom; pausing briefly as I looked to my left. There was a door that had clearly been closed for quite some time. Despite knowing who the room belonged to and why it was closed, I couldn’t help myself. I walked over and entered Hannah's room.

I looked around, the place hadn’t been touched since the disappearance of the girls. Looking around the room, I began to notice a few things that stood out, a postcard, a card about a tattoo shop, I remembered Hannah getting that tattoo. Continuing my exploration I noticed that a whole noticeboard on her wall, with everything being about Mike, a picture of Mike pinned to it, underneath a party invitation written by him.

“Gee Hannah...crush much?” I muttered

Look around I spotted something else, a piece of paper on the floor, I picked it up. It was a romance compatibility test, with a very unsatisfying results; no doubt her hoping to find out about her chances with Mike.

I shook my head. “Hello, could this be any more about Mike?”

Quickly gathering my thoughts I left Hannah's room, returning to the matter at hand.

Making my way across the upper floor, onto the balcony that led to the stairs I could hear Kyle, Josh, Chris and Ashley down below.  
  
“Come on...” Josh was complaining, much as I had been earlier.

There was a pause then Chris queried. “How long do you think it’ll take him?”

I could easily tell Ashley was shrugging as she answered. “My money’s on blankets for everyone!”

They then started joking, cheering him on and I smiled, amused by their antics as I descended the stairs and approached them. Josh stood up from the fireplace and turned to them, shaking his head.  
  
“Alright peanut gallery, you know what? I got an idea for you.” He remarked.

“What?” Ashley replied; taken aback by his sudden remark.

Grinning Josh explained. “Okay, well, I’m pretty that somewhere in this crazy place we used to have... a spirit board.”

Ashley made a face at that. “A what?”

“Wow...” Chris sarcastically gasped. “You have ‘a spirit board’?”

Finally realizing just what he meant Ashley asked incredulously. “Wait are you saying...we should have a seance?”

Chris however shook his head. “Those things are a joke, man, they don’t do shit.”

“No way bro.” Josh insisted. “We used to do it all the time, me and...well...”

They all went quiet at that, knowing he was talking about his sisters.

I decided now to make my presence known.

“Hey Josh.” I called out. “No hot water’s kinda major oversight, doncha think?”

Josh just smiled and gestured. “Yeah, yeah, just gotta fire up the boiler, it’s in the basement. We also need more firewood”

He paused and looked around before grinning.

“Alright, I got it.” He remarked. “Here’s how we’ll do it, I’ll go and grab some more firewood...Chris, Ash, if you guys could find the spirit board, if I’m not back don’t hesitate to start without me.”

He laughed a little at that, as did the others.

Enthusiastic Ashley stood up. “Chris, let’s go find it, it’ll be like a scavenger hunt.”

“Ummm...okay...” Chris replied, uncertainly. “I guess so.”

“Rad...” Josh replied happily. “You’re not gonna regret it.”

As they began to leave, Josh turned to me and Kyle.

“Now, Kyle, you’ve been down there before. Why don’t you take Sam and help her get that boiler fired up for her bath.”

Grinning Kyle nodded. “Good idea Josh, we’ll take care of it.”

With that Josh headed out to get the firewood, leaving me and Kyle to head for the basement.

I could have sworn Josh winked at me when he sent Kyle and I off to the boiler room, but I dismissed it as him being his playful self.  
  
"Sure is dark down here," I remarked.  
  
"It's a basement," Kyle quipped. "It's going to be dark. You ever heard of a well-lit basement?"  
  
"Point taken," I chuckled nervously.  
  
The two of us fumbled around for a while. The basement was so dark that the two of us could barely see in front of our faces. We cautiously stepped down into the   
abyss. "Josh didn't give you a flashlight or anything?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, right," Kyle brushed past me to approach an old drawer.

I seemed to have drawn out some sort of memory. From inside the drawer, he produced a flashlight and handed it to me.  
  
"I'm glad you remember this place," I shivered.  
  
"Sometimes, I wish I didn't."  
  
"It's best not to think of that," I smiled reassuringly.  
  
Kyle's face brightened just a tad. "You're right. Positive thoughts."  
  
"Like a bath."  
  
"Yeah," he chuckled. "Like a bath."  
  
"Right, so let's find this boiler."  
  
Without a second thought, I turned on my light and turned on my heel. Immediately, I screamed. And then the scream died in my throat upon realizing how silly I was. In front of me was merely a giant monk costume.  
  
"Jeez," Kyle laughed. "Not even five minutes down here and you're already freaking out!"  
  
"Shut up!" I protested. "It's just creepy down here! It startled me!"  
  
"Whatever you say," he grinned. "I suppose I should have warned you that there's still a bunch of old movie props in here. That's my bad."  
  
"Yeah," I agreed. I crossed my arms, my nerves just starting to settle. "Definitely your fault."  
  
"Don't worry, Sam." Kyle exaggeratedly puffed out his chest. "If anything wants to come out and grabs you, they'll have to go through me."  
  
I rolled my eyes. "My hero. Can we find this boiler please? I need a bath after the stress you put me through."  
  
"Fine, fine. It's not going to take us long to find it." He reached out to take my flashlight, but I shook my head.   
  
"Heroes don't need flashlights."  
  
"Oh, so you're going to find the boiler?"  
  
"Uh..."  
  
He snatched the flashlight of my hand. "Thought so."  
  
"I hope something jumps out at you next," I mumble.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Nothing... Nothing..."

Kyle made a noise in the back of his throat, but he let me win that battle. He led the way through the basement and towards our destination. I was definitely glad Kyle was with me. I would not want to be down here by myself, stumbling through the dark. Not long after, we found the boiler cabinet. From there, Kyle opened it up and peered inside.  
  
"This is it. Sorry you had to be dragged down here."  
  
"Just get me some hot water, and I'll be super fine."  
  
"Of course. Wouldn't want you to bathe in the Arctic."  
  
"I'm sure you'd keep me warm."  
  
"Doubt you'd get very clean."  
  
I smiled at his response. It was always fun to tease him, even if he was distracted. I'm sure if he wasn't working on the boiler, he'd have more to say. While he worked, I allowed my eyes to linger. The light from the torch allowed me to scan the room for something interesting.  
  
"Oh, hey," I thought a loud as my eyes found something peculiar. "I wonder what this is doing here."  
  
I opened a cabinet that was already ajar. Inside, I found a baseball bat. Strange.  
  
Kyle had paused from his busy work to note my find. "Huh. Must've been from Josh's baseball days in junior high."  
  
I took the slugger out of the cabinet and examined it. Yeah, it certainly seemed like something a boy would use for baseball. Nice grip too.  
  
"Sam?"  
  
"Coming," I replied. I leaned the bat against the wall and approached my boyfriend. "What's up?"  
  
"Can you hold this? I need two hands."  
  
"Uh, sure." I held the flashlight beam onto the cabinet and allowed Kyle to work. I watched him work, noting his hands and his handsome features.  
  
"Alrighty," he said, breaking my trance. "We gotta increase the water pressure before we get the boiler fired up."  
  
I bit my lip. "Sounds complicated."  
  
"No, not really," he chuckled.  
  
He then explained what I had to do. I mostly just had to pull the lever when the light on the machine turned on. Easy stuff. Kyle did his thing, and just as he said would happen, a light turned on.  
  
"Pull the lever, Kronk!"  
  
I pulled the lever whilst shaking my head at his silliness. Sure enough, the boiler came rumbling to life.  
  
"Whoa!"  
  
"Amazing, right? It's like you can literally hear the hot water."  
  
"My hero," I said again, only this time, in a teasing tone. "What would I ever do without you?"  
  
"Well," Kyle grinned. "You wouldn't be getting naked anytime soon." He then cringed, as if realizing how awkward that sounded.  
  
I decided to roll with it, if only to mess with him. "You really like to picture me naked, don't you?"  
  
"Well, I... uh..."  
  
His face heated up instantly, and he fumbled for a way to get himself out of the situation. I couldn't help but laugh at his awkwardness.  
  
"Relax," I reassured. I laid a hand on his chest. "I'm just messing with you."  
  
"I knew that," he insisted.  
  
"Uh huh. Sure."  
  
Kyle continued to plead his case, but I wouldn't let him. In fact, I started to have a different idea. As he blubbered, I grabbed his collar and leaned in to kiss him.  
 He was smart enough to catch on. The two of our lips connected and it was fire between us. I leaned up, my arms encircling his neck. His hands met around my waist. I deepened our kiss and I felt him push me to a wall. I felt his hands begin to roam my body, and I moaned before pushing him off me.  
  
He stepped back, blinking from our exercise. "Sorry, sorry. This basement is still just really creepy."  
  
I could see his facial features and shoulders relax. "I hear you. C'mon, I'll walk you upstairs."  
  
I nodded and grabbed the flashlight that I dropped. Together, we walked out of the basement and upstairs.


	4. Chapter 3: Isolation

**Until Dawn: The Light of Day**

**Chapter 3: Isolation**

**Eight/Seven Hours Until Dawn  
**

_**Mike** _

**23:22  
**

Looking around warily at the spot on the fallen tree trunk where Jess had been standing, I bit my lip worriedly.

“Jess?” I called out, wary having heard her scream.

She screamed again and I panicked. “Jess?”

I hurried over and began to climb over the tree trunk, nearly getting the wind knocked out of me in the process.

“OOOOF” I gasped before cringing. “FUCK NUGGETS!”

I clambered over and jumped down, following the path, looking around warily as I went, using my flashlight to find any clue.

“Jessica…?” I called out worriedly; continuing my calls as I searched. “Ah come on, Jess? Buddy?”

I stopped by an old abandoned tractor; one that had clearly been here for some time.

“You in there?” I whispered as I tried the door.

Suddenly a scarecrow mask popped up from within the vehicle making me leap back with a yelp.

“Ahh, whoa, Christ!” I took a deep breath, calming down. “That scared the blue outta my jeans. The hell is that doing in there anyway?”

Composing myself I continued my search. Calling out at various times as I went up the right hand path from the tractor.

“Jess? Hon? Light of my life?” Then, jokingly. “I totally promise I won't murder you when I find you.”

Just then a figure with large antler like horns leapt from the shadow and I screamed; a very unmanly scream.

The figure burst out laughing, revealing themselves to be Jess, holding a pair of  loose  antlers to her head. She put them down.

“Oh my god!” She laughed.

“Oh my...no!” I cried out, shaking my head in dismay.

Jess couldn’t hold back her laughter. “Haha, that was so good!”

“Not...no!”  
Hurrying to where she had set her phone down she spoke to me.

“Wait, wait, wait, you have to see this...you have-”

“I’m not seeing anyth – no. No!” I groaned.

But Jess was insistent, holding out her phone to him. “Look, no, no, no. Mike, haha!”  
“You recorded that?” I hissed through gritted teeth.

“Look at your face!” Jess insisted with glee.

“I was scared Jess!” I groaned. “You can't just jump out at somebody! I'm in the middle of the woods, it's scary!”

Laughing still Jess remarked sarcastically. “I’m sorry, did I scare you?”

“I-if you send that to anybody...” I warned.

“You’ll what?” She challenged cheerfully.

“I’m...gonna...kill ya.” I finished lamely, not convincing at all.

Smirking Jess jokingly teased  me of course . “I didn’t know you had such a cute little lady-like scream Michael. Guess you never really know someone unless you scare the pants off ‘em!”  
Rolling  my eyes and regaining  my composure, I replied.

I opted to respond with a casual witticism. “As far as I can tell, my pants are still on.”

“Oh is that so?”

“Yeah, looks like you’ll have to try harder.” I quipped.

“A challenge ‘ey?” She replied confidently. “Well I hope you're strapped in, cause you're about to feel the full force of my mind melting thrill skills.”

With that, we reunited and continued on our way.

As  we walked onwards  we soon began crossing a bridge which overlooked a small waterfall; Jessica gasped in amazement, loving the surroundings.

“Waaaaaoooow...It’s kind of like a real winter wonderland out here now...”

“Hey girl, you know I hook you up!” I responded cheerfully.

Jess nodded happily and we resumed our trek when we were interrupted by a rather disconcerting noise.

“The hell is that?” I whispered uneasily.

Jess was also worried. “Was it someone screaming?”

“Naw, no, probably just a squirrel or something.” I replied, trying to be reassuring.

“Brr. Creep town.”

We continued, now more than eager to reach the cabin. But I suddenly stopped, hearing something.

“Shh!”

“What?” Jess whispered.

“Did you hear that?” I replied quietly.

Jess shook her head and I warily lifted a snowball. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should throw it. In the end, my hesitance led to me dropping the snowball as both Jess and I cried out in surprise as a deer jumped out from the trees and tore past us. Both recovering from our close call we resumed their journey, I was certain we were almost there on. On the way we came across an abandoned shack.

“Charming.”

Jess laughed at that and joking replied. “It’s everything you described Michael.”

“Wait, what?” I responded, confused.

“The cabin, I love it.”

I rolled  my eyes and responded with sarcastic ‘yeah’. Still,  I decided to check it out, while Jess cleaned up some mud from her coat from a nearby small pond, thankfully not completel y frozen over.

A careful search of the old shack turned up nothing except an old miners mask. Curious about it, I decided to share  t his discovery with Jess.

“Hey, check out this mask.” I said, as I emerged, showing it to her as she stood and turned.

“Ew, why?”

“It’s so weird right?” I queried.

Jess shook her head, shuddering. “It creeps me out.”

“I think you like it.” I teased, before holding it in front of my face. “Wanna make out?”

Jess groaned. “Mike stop!”  
“Alright, your loss.” I replied, throwing it aside, muttering to myself. “This mask is cool.”

We continued, I briefly wondering if we’d have any more distractions on the way. We soon got our answer as another deer leapt out in front of us and ran ahead, making both of us yelp. A short while later, we heard a high-pitched screech.

“What is that?” Jess shakily whispered.

“Not sure I wanna know.”

It was shortly after that we found the dying deer. The poor creature lay on the ground, it’s neck savaged, it’s labored breathing spoke of it’s agony.

“Damn...” I whispered.

Jess shook her head in dismay. “It’s horrible.”

Examining the deer I shook my head sadly. “I don’t think it’s gonna make it.”

Deciding to at least ease it’s final moments, I slowly approached it.

I knelt down, talking gently.

“Hey bud...hey buddy.”

Jess did the same, talking softly. “Oh my god, the poor thing...”

I moved closer and gently stroked its head.

“It’s okay...it’s okay...”

“Mike, it’s in so much pain.” Jess said sadly.

I nodded before talking, again trying to be reassuring. “It’ll be over soon, okay? It’ll be over soon.”

Suddenly we heard the high-pitched screech again and the deer was suddenly yanked away from us, into the shadows. We both cried out, terrified.

“AHHH!” Jess screamed.

“WHOA-” I looked around wildly before quickly calling out. “RUN! RUN!”

We fled for our lives as we heard the wet, crunching noise of the deer being slaughtered by whatever had grabbed it, something that was now right behind us.

As  we ran, hearing the sounds of rapid pursuit, Jess screamed.

“Oh my god, what the hell was that!?”

“I don’t know!” I yelled back.

Spotting a route, Jess cried out. “There’s a bridge!” Over here! Over here Mike!”

She leapt over the gap of the fallen bridge, I was following close behind, also jumping the gap. We ran further, ducking and leaping over branches as we ran.

“It’s a bear, it’s gotta be a bear!” I cried out.

Hardly reassured Jess stopped, looking in dismay at the path splitting, a steep hill to our left offered a short cut, while the other was the actual path. I nodded to her and took off towards the short-cut, she followed at once and we began climbing the slope, I helped Jess up several times until we finally reached the top and began to run for the cabin, now right in front of us. We climbed the small set of steps onto the porch and I reached the door, Jess however tripped, dropping the key.

“Jess!” I turned sharply.

She struggled to her feet, gesturing to the key. Getting the message I grabbed the key and hurriedly tried to unlock the door, urging Jess on as she got up and joined me We managed to get inside and close the door behind us, locking it.

Fighting to catch our breath I saw Jess shake her head.

“Holy crap, I feel like I just ran a marathon!” She wheezed out.

I laughed lightly. “I think we kinda did.”

“Was it a bear?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, gotta be, things are crazy fast.”

Looking out the window worriedly Jess muttered. “I mean, I didn’t see it.”

Trying to calm her down I spoke confidently. “Hey, thing’s not gonna come barging in, I promise.”

Jess turned to me, clearly sceptical. “How can you be sure?”

“Cause I’m pretty sure bears don’t know how to open cabin doors.”

“I’ve seen them open car doors.” Jess stated.

I was incredulous of that. “What, where?”

“On...the internet.”

I nodded slowly. “Really? Okay... Well, this isn't the internet, Jess! Alright? This is real life! And I promise you that no bear or anything else is gonna open that cabin door.”

Jess sighed. “I guess you're right. Okay. I'm almost feeling relaxed again. Almost.”

She attempted to flick the lights on, but they didn’t work, muttering to herself she moved to the sofa and sat down, rubbing her arms.

“Brr, this is not the cozy chalet I was promised, Mike.”

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it’s a bit drafty or something, right?”

“Well, there is a fireplace.” Jess stated, gesturing to it.

Smirking confidently I leaned on the back of the sofa. “We don’t need a fire to heat things up.”

“Michael.” Jess admonished me. “I am a lady and a lady needs a proper romantic setting. A lady would like to cuddle up with her man by a nice cozy fire bathed in atmospheric mood lighting.”

“It’ll get plenty toasty once we’re rubbing up against each other...”

“Mike?” Jess repeated, emphasizing her point. “Fire...and mood lighting.”

With an indulgent sigh, I nodded. “Yes...M’lady.”

I began to search for matches to help light the fire.

As  I searched Jess checked her pockets and suddenly began to panic.

“Oh shit, fuck, I!”

“What.”  
“Ahhhhh, oh crap!” Jess complained.

“What?” I repeated.

“Where is it!?”

“What, what’s wrong?” I tried to get her to tell me.

“Gone, it’s gone okay.” She groaned.

“Jess, slow down.” He told her calmly. “What is gone?”

Jess wasn’t for calming down however. “my freakin; phone, Sherlock!”

Immediately I checked under the sofa and around with the flashlight.

“You can’t find it?”

“Crap, no!” She said, before realizing. “I must have dropped it outside.”

“Ahh... shit...”

Jess turned to me. “I can’t lose my phone, my parents will kill me.”

“You can always get a new one...” I suggested.

“That’s like, my fourth one this year.”

Grimacing I nodded. “Okay, okay, well, I’ll help you look for it.”

“It’s gotta be outside.” Jess reiterated.

I sighed. “Yeah... I don't think we wanna go out there right now with the bear... or whatever-it-is...”

Jess conceded my point and sat back down while I resumed my search. I found a few interesting things in the cabin, a photo of Hannah and, most notably, a book on Native American beliefs, which explained the meaning of the carving we saw earlier.

“Looks like we weren't the only ones to meet the friendly neighborhood terror bears.” I informed Jess.

She shook her head. “That does not make me feel any better.”

I nodded, indicating I felt the same.

Finally I found the matches and grinned.

“Lookie-lookie, who's gonna fire up some nookie!”

Jess rolled her eyes. “ You've been dying to use that line since we got here, haven't you?”

I just laughed and  headed towards the fireplace, a small electric lantern was situated on the floor before it,  I smirked and turned it on, taking care of the mood lighting.  I then got to work, putting the wood in the fireplace and lighting it. Grinning  I stood up, turning to Jess.

“Man on, fire zero.”

Jess clapped her hands with a grin. “Very nice, bravo.”

“Alright my lady, what comes next?” I queried.

With a suggestive grin, Jess stood and steered me until he was seated on the sofa. Casually humming a disco beat to which I grinned and settled back on the sofa to watch. It did not take long for her to start, playfully stripping off, as I did the same, interrupting said attempts mainly with impromptu make-out sessions. Jess and I were soon on the sofa, deeply, passionately making out, Jess had, by now, stripped down to her white floral-patterned panties and matching bra, I was now down to just my jeans and white tank-top undershirt. It was then it happened and caught me completely off guard. We were making out, my hands moved, ready to remove her bra.

“Jess...” I murmured. “You’re the only one for me...”

That was when she pushed me, making me back off, startled.

What startled me the most was the look of cold anger on her face. She forced me to move away from her, getting to her feet and standing in front of the sofa, arms crossed, glaring at me.

“Oh really.” She snapped. “Then how do you explain your behavior earlier.”

I shook my head. “What are you talking about. I…?”  
She glowered. “I am done with this Michael. You lied to me, Matt was right, _I saw you and Emily!_ ”

I froze at that, horrified as I realized the terrible truth.

I shook my head and stood up. “Jess, please, just listen to me for a minute, I-”

“No, there is no excuse for this.” She snapped. “Forget it Mike, it’s quite clear that you aren’t over Emily, so just forget it. You can stay here, don’t even think of following me.”

So, not even bothering to pick up her clothes, Jess stalked off in just her underwear towards the bedroom.

“Jess!”

She glared over her shoulder. “We’re through Mike; it’s over, you betrayed me and you know it, now, leave it!”

She entered the bedroom and slammed the door shut. I sank back into the sofa and shook my head in frustration.

‘ _Fuck…Fuck!’_ I thought furiously.

I still couldn’t process it; I don’t understand what I was thinking and why this had to happen.

But then, it happened, I was startled by a scream from Jess, before there were sounds of a struggle, more screams from Jess but muffled this time. I simply reacted and rushed to the room. I tried to open the door but I couldn’t, it was either locked or stuck. Unable to take any more chances I simply kicked it open and burst in. To my horror I saw Jess, lying on the floor, out cold.

‘ _But who, how...someone attacked her!?’_ I thought frantically.

But then, before I could react, I briefly spotted someone, a shadowy figure, before they grabbed me and a strange mask was forced over my mouth and nose. There was a hissing noise and a burst of gas before I blacked out.  


* * *

_**Kyle** _

**23:42  
**

Once Sam and I finished our business in the boiler room, it was time to head upstairs. Sam had less than subtly mentioned that she couldn't wait to bathe. Like the gentleman I am, I decided to escort her to bathroom. Wouldn't want her to get lost now, would we? As we climbed the stairs, I reached an arm up and over her shoulders. Sam smiled and leaned into my touch.  
  
Walking up the old stairs reminded me of where we were.

"Strange to be back here after all that's happened," I wondered aloud.  
  
Sam frowned, and I mentally kicked myself for killing the mood. "I suppose. Yeah, I agree. But it's been a year, a lot has happened."  
  
As the last words escaped her mouth, we stepped past the last step of the stairs. We lazily walked our way down the hall to the bathroom. Sam took the opportunity to separate from me, her hand on the door knob.  
  
"Besides," she decided to add. "We have gotten a lot closer over that time.  
  
"Yeah," I beamed. "We have."  
  
Sam returned the expression before she used her free hand to pull me close by my collar. She kissed me slowly on my lips. Her left hand remained on my collar while her right hand left the doorknob and found its way to my chest. She lightly pushed me away, just enough to break our lips apart. Our faces remained centimeters apart.  
  
"Hey," her voice lowered an octave. "Since you've been so good to me lately, maybe I'll let you watch me... 'get ready' for my bath. What do you say?"  
  
She was trying to be seductive, and, boy, was it working. My pants felt just a little tighter after hearing her tone.  
  
I considered. I really wanted to, but I remembered I had an obligation. "You know I'd love to, Sam," I licked my lips. "But you know Chris and Ashley are waiting."  
  
I pulled away from the fractional distance that separated us. Now the only parts of our bodies that were even close to touching were our hands.  
  
"So?" Sam continued on, nonplussed. Slowly, she peeled of her jacket. Though I could tell she was trying to keep herself from bursting out laughing at her exaggeratedly stripper-esque antics.  
  
I shook my head, clearly understanding she was just trying to mess with me. "Maybe later, Sam. We'll have plenty of time for that."  
  
"Oh, all right," she pouted childishly. "Guess I'll enjoy my bath. Alone."  
  
"That's the spirit!" I shouted enthusiastically. "Let me know when you're done soaking up those suds. And while you're at it, work on that strip technique while you're in there. You looked like you were doing a chicken dance!"

I turned away from Sam and snickered as I approached the stairs.  
  
"Screw you!"  
  
I laughed after I heard the door shut. I thought about how fun it was to mess with her as I descended down the stairs to meet our friends.

* * *

_**Mike** _

**23:59  
**

Recovering from the sudden attack on us I groaned and tried to get up. But then suddenly I remembered what had happened, my fight with Jess and then that strange man that attacked us both. I looked around sharply. I was still in the cabin, but he was gone and so was Jess.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck, what the fuck!” He cried out.

I quickly grabbed the electric lantern and, as an afterthought grabbed the hunting rifle I had spotted next to the door when we entered and darted outside the cabin, leaping down into the snow.

“JESSICA!!” I yelled before noting the footprints and drag marks in the snow. “Oh my god, oh my god...”

I took off running, following the trail.

“JESS!!! Jess...” I cried out, listening, praying I could hear her respond, even if it was only a scream.

My heart was hammering, the blood pounded in my head, the wind rushed past my ears. All I could think about was saving Jess from whoever, had grabbed her. No matter our fight, no matter the reasons for it, I had to save her. As such, the cold barely affected me, not even when I stopped to contemplate my choices, for I saw two routes ahead. One was shorter but more risky, jumping over some fallen metal tubing to cross the river, or following the path around. For me, it was a no-brainer and I began to leap from metal tube to metal tube until I finally crossed the river and took off running again.

“JESS! JESSICA! JESSICAAA!!” I cried out as I continued to run.

But my frantic searching was still getting no response. I stopped when I reached a ledge and looked around, it was dark, hard to see and the ground was some distance below. Gritting my teeth I set the lantern down and aimed the hunting rifle, trying to use the scope to see the path below.

I searched without any result and began to panic.

“Jesus, fuck...fuck...” I whispered but then stopped. “JESS, NO!!”  
I spotted Jess at last, still out cold and still, thankfully, dressed, even if it was in just her underwear. She was being carried by that strange freak from before. I leapt to my feet, picking up the lantern and shouldering the rifle again. I wasted no time and jumped down, sliding down the cliff.

“Holy SHIIIT!! FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK! URGH!”

The whole way down I cried out, managing to grab a branch on the way down to slow my fall, it broke but allowed me to land on my feet. I quickly retrieved the rifle and lantern and kept running.

“Keep going, keep going.” I told himself.

My adrenaline pounded, making me move faster, ducking under low hanging tree branches and leaping over protruding tree roots. I silently cursed, the tracks were getting fainter and fainter.

I stopped again briefly as  I found  my self at a chasm, there were two ways across,  I could either shimmy across the edges, or use the rock platforms to jump across.

‘ _Okay, c’mon...fuck it...Jess’ life is at stake.’_ I told myself and threw caution to the wind.

It was a startling experience, but I managed to make the jumps, some of them only just, once on the other side I wasted no time and resumed pursuit, once more picking up the trail.

I shook  my head as  I pursued.  _ ‘T his can’t be happening; I can’t let this happen, not to Jess. Shit, how could I face her parents that I let something happen to her. ’ _

Growling and urging myself onwards I soon stopped again, I was standing at the top of a cliff, overlooking an old abandoned mine building. Looking at the path below, I made up my mind at once and began to slide down the ledge, taking care to arrest my fall and slowed my descent. Soon I reached the bottom, landing on my feet. He picked up my rifle and lantern again and began to make my way towards the mine building, the trail stopped here, which worried me, I looked around.

“HELP ME!!” Jess suddenly screamed.

“Come, shit! Shit! Shit, shit!” I growled as I entered the mine building.

Following her screams I tried to find her.

“Oh no, Michael!”

“JESSICA!” I yelled back, trying to get her attention.

Her scream this time was more focused, telling him she had heard. “HELP ME!!”

“JESSICA!!” I called out again, but this time, no reply. “JESS!!”

Instantly panic settled within me and I hurried through the building, descending a set of stairs when I found them.

My heart leapt into my mouth when I heard Jess shriek again.

“ARGH!! NO!!!! MICHAAEELLLL HELP ME!!!! HELP ME!!!” She was pleading and she wasn’t scared, no, she was clearly terrified.

“JESSICA, I’M COMING!!!” I called out, trying to reassure her, but she continued to scream. “JESSICA, JESSICA!!”

Hearing me she cried out, pleading again. “HELP ME!! Oh no Michael!”

“JESS!!”

I reached the bottom of the steps and rounded a corner, slowly approaching the center for the room, his eyes widened in horror. An old elevator was stationed there and lying on it, was a tape recorder which was playing, as it played, Jess’ voice issues from it. I had been following a tape recording all along, I suddenly recalled Jess screaming like that mere days after they started dating, after watching a scary movie that Josh had urged them to watch, one of his father’s and it got too much for Jess.

“NO!!! OH GOD!!! Nooo... Jessica... Oh god!!” I cried; I had been tricked and now I had lost her, and the man who had taken her.

The worst part was the blood; surrounding the tape recorder was a massive pool of blood. I had a nasty feeling about it and it nearly broke me.

Head bowed  I nearly collapsed into tears, when  I noticed a strange shape forming a shadow above  me .

“Huh? What the fuck.” I mumbled as I looked upwards.

I could see the shape now, it was clearly a person, a figure, looking down at me. A sudden rage gripped me then and a red mist descended, this had to be the person responsible for what happened to Jess. At that point, only one thing registered in my mind. Vengeance.

* * *

_**Jamie** _

**00:05  
**

I looked around, perplexed.

“What the hell, where did he…?” I muttered.

Brian shook his head. “Face it Jamie, we’ve lost this guy.”

I sighed. “It looks like it; yeah...I don’t believe this, where could he have gone?”  
We had been following the strange man we had seen earlier, but after following him through several snow filled trails we had lost sight of him. Now, as a result, we had wandered, somewhat lost.

Biting my lip I explained. “Look, I’m sorry man, I got us lost. But...”  
Brian just smiled. “It’s cool. I was with you the whole time remember, I wanted to find out who that guy was, figure out why he was here, too.”

Still I couldn’t help but feel that I had acted rashly. Seeing this Brian shook his head and then spoke again.

“Look Jamie, we can’t keep looking for this guy. We’ve lost him.” He said. “The best thing we can do is go back to the others and warn them, let them know there’s someone else up here and that he’s creeping around.”

I sighed but nodded. “Yeah, okay. You’re right, but how do we find out way back; we’re lost remember.”

Brian laughed. “Not as lost as you think; see.”

I followed where he was pointing and couldn’t help but smirk. He had in fact been paying more attention to our surroundings than I had and there, ahead of us, was a familiar path. A path that would lead us back to the path near the shed. So, nodding in agreement with Brian I followed him as we made our way back; hoping to find and warn the others before it was too late.

* * *

_**Mike** _

**00:12  
**

Reacting at once in blind anger, I raised the rifle, taking aim at the figure above and firing. I wasn’t sure exactly what happened, either I missed or the figure avoided the shot, either way I shouldered the rifle and began to run up stairs.

‘ _Son of a bitch, you’re not getting away from me!!’_ I thought furiously.

Running up the stairs I very nearly fell through a hold in the ground but leapt over it at the last second. I stopped only when I reached the elevator shaft and began to climb it. Seeing a ledge above me I leapt up to it, only for it to break. I let out a yelp but quickly caught a lower ledge. Gritting my teeth I struggled upwards, climbing still, moving as quickly as possible.

‘ _Shit, shit, c’mon!’_

Urging myself onwards, although the adrenaline was slowly wearing out now, I began climbing up the right side of a wall, using various protruding bits of metal as hand and foot holds. Gritting my teeth I jumped over the gap and finally landed on the ledge the figure had been standing. Right away I saw it was the end of a tunnel. Towards the end of a tunnel was a male figure walking away.

I pulled out the rifle. _‘It’s him, that’s gotta be the guy...for Jess...’_

I pulled the trigger only for the gun to jam.

My anger gave way to dismay at that and I cursed angrily.

“What? Come on, come ON!” I growled throwing the now useless gun aside. “Piece of shit...”

Looking up I saw the man jumping down a hole and a gate beginning to close.

“Christ!” I yelled as I took off running. “Gotta make it!”  
I dropped and slid along the ground, only just making it past the gate before it fully closed. Catching my breath I struggled upright.

‘ _Dammit, gotta keep after him, can’t let what happened to Jess...’_

I shook my head, I had to focus on following and finding out who this guy was, then I’d get my revenge. Spotting an older style lantern I quickly claimed it, turning it on with my lighter before picking it up and following the path the figure took. I leapt down the hole and made my way out of the mines and into the snow.

“Oh fuck.” I muttered as the cold finally bit at me.

But then I saw it, a strange large building in the distance, I could just make out the man I saw earlier, walking up the path towards it.

“Jesus...” I whispered to myself. “The fuck is that place?”

I slowly, carefully began to follow the path myself.


	5. Chapter 4: Malevolence

**Until Dawn: The Light of Day**

**Chapter 4: Malevolence**

**Eight/Seven Hours Until Dawn  
**

_**Ashley** _

**23:00  
**

I took note of Chris grinning as he, Kyle and I sat together. We had pulled three wooden chairs over to a small table in one corner of the room, set up the spirit board and were now gathered around it.  
Chris began to inform us of how to use it, taking some 'liberties' with his instructions.  
  
"So it says here: "to communicate with the spirit world you must free your mind of all preconceptions, drop all inhibitions, and generally give yourself over entirely to the will of others, sublimating your every desire to the whims of the Spirit-master," which is me--"  
  
"It doesn't say that." I scoffed, rolling my eyes.  
  
Chris laughed shortly before jokingly adding. "And all present will remove their garments at my sole discretion."  
  
"You've got to be joking," Kyle chuckled  
  
"Oh, I'm deadly serious."  
  
Finally I shook my head. "Oh shush it, let's try this."  
  
"Let's do it," Kyle added. "I ain't afraid of no ghost."  
  
All three of us placed our hands on the board.  
  
"Okay then." Chris conceded at last. "Let's see what happens. Ashley, since you're a recent convert, why don't you be our medium for today?"  
  
Biting my lip, I nodded as we all touched the pointer. "OK, um...Anyone there? Will you reveal yourself to us...if you're there?"  
  
There was a lengthy pause where nothing happened then, to our shock, the pointer began moving, guiding our hands. We were startled and cried out in surprise and consternation.  
  
"Wait a minute..." Chris gasped.  
  
"Did you bump the table Ashley?" Kyle interrogated me.  
  
I shook my head. "I didn't do anything!"  
  
"It's moving again." Chris noted.  
  
The pointer indeed began moving again, this time spelling out a word, starting with H. We continued talking over each other.  
  
"Why H?" Kyle pondered.

"Hold on." I whispered worriedly.  
  
"No, I doubt that's it, Ash."  
  
Chris was still skeptical. "Are you moving it?"  
  
I shook my head vehemently. "I swear it's just moving."  
  
There was a pause as it finished spelling the word.  
  
"What the hell..." Kyle muttered.  
  
I repeated the word, utterly taken aback. "Help?"  
  
Chris shook his head. "How are we supposed to help?"  
  
"I don't know." I retorted. "What does it mean?"  
  
Chris thought for a moment. "We need to know who it is if we're supposed to help them."  
  
I nodded and asked. "Who are you...Ohh, here it goes-"  
  
The pointer began moving again. We read out the word it spelled aloud, Kyle reacting first, followed by me and then Chris, before the cycle repeated.  
  
"Okay, 'H'."  
  
"A"  
  
"N"  
  
"N"  
  
"A"  
  
"H"  
  
"Hannah..." I said breathlessly. "But how...? Fuck, if Josh was here…?"  
  
"Is it really Hannah though?"  
  
Chris and I shared a look, both clearly thinking the same thing. Was this really Hannah and if so, did that mean she was actually dead.  
  
Chris however still seemed a sceptic. "Oh come on, is this real?"  
  
Kyle seemed confused. "I'm not sure..."

I shifted uneasily.  
  
Finally however I voiced her thoughts.

"Guys, it's...I don't know what to make of this but..." I couldn't finish, but I didn't need to.  
  
"Should we keep going?" Kyle licked his lips.  
  
Chris nodded slowly. "Ashley, we can do this, right?"  
  
I shuddered, suddenly more afraid than ever. I considered for a moment before, finally, simply deciding to ask something.  
  
"Is this really you, Hannah, are you really, dead?"  
  
The pointer suddenly moved to 'Yes' on the board.  
  
"Oh God." I whimpered, freaked out.  
  
Chris was even more edgy now. "This is messed up."  
  
Worried I immediately turned to Kyle. "Kyle, what do you think, should we…?"  
  
"I think we should... continue."  
  
"Are you sure because this is getting-" I began to reply.  
  
"I know it's crazy. But if it IS Hannah, then..."  
   
We lapsed into silence after that, considering what to do next.  
   
I shook my head. "I don't know where to start."  
  
We fell into a short silence, thinking. Finally Chris spoke up, a spark of interest in his eyes.  
  
"Think about it." He said quietly. "If this is actually Hannah, I mean, we can find out what happened that night."  
  
"Oh...kay..." I whispered nervously. "Let me think…"  
  
Finally I spoke again, voicing my question  
  
"Hannah...We want to know what happened to you that night. Can you tell us?"  
  
The pointer began moving again.  
  
I spoke quickly, trying to keep up. "K-I-L-L...Oh my god..."  
  
The word finished, adding in 'E' and 'D'.  
  
"Killed?" Chris gasped. "No way, it, it can't be...Josh, if he hears this…?"  
  
I shook my head, realizing I sounded as if I was borderline to a breakdown. "I don't know if I can keep doing this..."  
  
"Maybe we should stop?" Kyle offered.  
  
There was an edgy silence.  
  
Finally Chris seemed to make up his mind.  
  
He spoke reassuringly to me. "Just, just stay calm...I think it's saying that someone killed her, maybe both of them..."  
  
"I don't know..." I said shakily.  
  
"I just..." Chris bit his lip. "Ask it something else!"  
  
I nodded, trying to regain my composure. "Okay, okay...How were you killed?"  
  
The pointer moved again, as I read out, beginning to spell the word. 'L-I-B-'  
  
Chris immediately caught on. "Library, maybe there's something in the library here..."  
  
"P-R-O-O..." I read out.  
  
Chris again realized what was going on. "Proof, there's, there's…there's proof."  
  
"In the library?" I queried in disbelief.  
  
Suddenly the spirit board shook and flipped the pointer clean off the table, making all three of us jump back.  
  
"Watch out!!" Kyle cried out.  
  
We also cried out. The lengthy silence was broken by Kyle, shakily getting to his feet.  
  
"Maybe... we should look in the library? Ghost Hannah might be right."  
  
There was another stony silence as Chris and I shared a look, finally I sighed.  
  
"Maybe you're right Kyle, let's...let's do this." I said.  
  
Chris turned to me, startled. "You sure, Ash?"  
  
I nodded, looking carefully at both of them. "Let's go look in the library."

_**Kyle** _

**23:14  
**

So once our séance had ended, the three of us had made our way to the stairs to descend to the library. I still had my reservations, but I wasn't going to let Chris and Ashley go down by themselves.  
We had only just begun to descend when Chris broke the silence.  
  
"Do you really think the girls are trying to communicate with us?"  
  
"I'm not sure," I answered honestly. "Ash?"  
  
Ashley shook her head and groaned. "I don't know whether I wish they were or wish they weren't. But either way, I’m glad Josh wasn’t there or he would’ve been really freaked. I mean, he would, right?"  
  
"Why wouldn't he?" I replied. "Imagine your missing sisters contacting you for the first time... beyond the grave."  
  
"Jesus," Chris whispered.  
  
"Maybe we shouldn’t have tried this, look at what it’s done, with Josh’s sister’s and all?" Ashely bowed her head, ashamed   
  
"I mean, that was the reason for coming down here," Chris assured her.  
  
"Maybe. But maybe we shouldn't have had a séance..."  
  
Nobody had anything to say about that. We continued to descend until we got to the end of the stairs. We found ourselves in a room just before the library. Before we could approach the library, Chris pointed out an upturned floorboard. Underneath we could see lighting. Electrical lighting. Despite the power being cut. We all agreed it was rather strange before moving on.  
We entered the library to look for evidence that was apparently here. There wasn't much to see, apart from some musty old books. I even went so far to assume there was nothing here when a bookshelf timbered suddenly near Chris.  
  
With a yelp, Chris got out of the way. After checking his state of health, we turned our attention back to the bookshelf. In its place, clear as day, was a button. After some discussion, we were quick to conclude we were all rather curious. Although all three of us were frightened, I could tell, none of the scares were enough to scare us away. After a short discussion, Ashley took initiative by pressing the button. A beat later, the bookcase shifted. It slid almost mechanically to the side, exposing a secret entrance.  
  
"Whoa," Chris awed. "Panel opens, head explodes."  
  
"What?" Ashley sighed, flustered. "Are we in some kind of movie or something?"  
  
"Well, if that's case, I hope it's a rom-com," Chris joked.  
  
"You guys have it all wrong, this is obviously their Bat cave," I laughed nervously.  
  
Ashley rolled her eyes while Chris chuckled. We observed the entrance for a moment longer, uncertain.  
  
"Should we... check it out?" Ashley asked the both of us.  
  
"Go right on ahead, Ash. You have the candle."  
  
"Uh, no. No, no, no, no, no. Kyle, you should go."  
  
Before I could protest, Ashley had forced the candle into my hands. I opened my mouth to object, but just looking at Chris and Ashley, I knew I wasn't going to talk my way out of this.  
  
"Fine, I'll look around. Bunch of cowards," I grumbled.  
  
"Just in case something goes wrong, you have any last words for Sam?" Chris teased.  
  
I narrowed my eyes. "Just some words for you, Chris: bite me."  
  
He sniggered while I took the candle through the threshold. The room I entered was small but ornate. Definitely not a Batcave. Or well, not yet. In fact, the only thing noteworthy was the mahogany desk in the room. With my curiosity peaking, I searched through the desk. And I found nothing, except for a photo of Beth and Hannah. At first I didn't see anything inconspicuous about it, until I turned it over and my eyes widened into saucers.  
  
"What did you find?" Ashley called.  
  
"Something you'll have to see to believe," I hollered back.  
  
I made my way back to my friends. Immediately, they clamoured to see my finding.   
  
"What did you find?" asked Chris.  
  
"I found this."  
  
"What IS that?" Ashley demanded.  
  
"It's a photo of Hannah and Beth... But on the other side... Someone wrote a death threat. I think It's meant for them." I explained nervously.  
  
Both of my friend's eyes widened. Chris was the first to react. "Was that the clue they told us to look for?"  
  
Meanwhile, Ashley snatched the photo right out of my hand. Her eyes quickly scanned the threat emblazoned on the back.  
  
"Holy cow... Guys this is serious. We should find and tell Josh about this." She said quickly  
  
Chris and I nodded. We both agreed with Ashley. This was too weird not to tell him. We headed out through the library to find Josh. Along the way, Chris stumbled across a letter that described a dispute between Native American tribes. Mrs. Washington was always interested in Native American culture and their beliefs.  
  
"Do you think someone was really after Hannah and Beth?"  
  
"I'm not sure what to believe anymore, Ash," I answered honestly.  
  
"So um..." He began, before finally spilling it. "I've just been thinking about something I saw earlier with Sam..."  
  
"What?"  
  
He explained slowly. "There was this, uh, wanted poster, like, full on western-style you know?"  
  
Ashley and I shrugged. "So?"  
  
"And Sam really thought there was someone following her around..."  
  
"So...so what?" Ashley replied, suddenly getting nervous again. "You're saying that there's some criminal up on the mountain with us?"  
  
Chris nodded, he seemed to have remembered more and quickly told the both of us..  
  
"There was a message... on this answering machine I found and it – it was from this Sergeant saying there was this guy who had just gotten out of prison and there was nothing he could do-"  
  
"What do you mean?" Ashley asked, panic beginning to creep into her voice.  
  
"He was saying it like...like a warning." Chris finished, before then realizing. "I mean, maybe that was whoever was down in the basement before, remember, under the floorboards in the library, the light...That guy I told you about..."  
  
I recalled Chris telling us some stories on the way down the stairs. I didn't really think anything of it until now.  
  
"Wait, wait, wait." She insisted, she couldn't put her finger on it. "What guy!?"  
  
"The guy who threatened the Washingtons...He said he wanted to take revenge by burning the whole place down," Chris explained. "And I found that crazy psycho letter..."  
  
"Jesus," I mumbled.  
  
Ashley groaned and turned away, wrapping her arms around herself.  
  
"Chris, if this is your way of trying to make me feel better... you're fired." She said bluntly.  
  
Shaking my head I commented. "I agree... Dude, you suck."  
  
The sound of a door slamming interrupted Chris' reply.   
  
"What the hell was that?"  
  
"That was Josh!" Ashley shrieked. "From the kitchen!"  
  
We all called out to him, and the three of us frantically raced towards the kitchen. As we reached the kitchen, Chris paused to open the door for us. Suddenly, Ashley was yanked through and the door shut with a mighty whap! Chris and I instantly began to panic. It didn't help that we could hear Ashley scream and cry out in pain from behind the uncaring door. Adrenaline spiked through my veins as Chris and I shouted for Ashley.  
  
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I looked over at Chris and gestured towards the door with my shoulder. He got the message. After three tries, and our combined might, the door shattered from beneath our power. From there, I did not see where Chris went, but my primary concern was finding Ashley and saving her. Unfortunately, the force it took to take down the door left me dazed from the impact. I staggered to the ground.  
  
"Ashley!" I called as my wits were ever so slowly coming to me. "Ashley!"  
  
I stopped calling in horror, for in front of me stood an almost demonic entity. Through a smoke, I could see it was a towering man in a strange jumper suit, his face was white, with a clown-like appearance with demonic teeth that ran across, whilst also exposing bright gum features. I attempted to stand, although sheer terror almost making my legs seize up. Before I can say anything, the entity was upon me. I could not get out of the way of the large fist that caught me across the left side of my face.  
  
Then, a ridiculously large hand cupped my mouth, holding some sort of oxygen mask, it began hissing, forcing me to breathe in some sort of gas. Through blurry vision I attempted to fight the demon off of me with my fists and a string of curses. But I could feel myself slipping. The last thing I remember is thinking the word "sedative" and my eyes growing heavy, my body sluggish, and then everything went black.  


_**Psycho** _

**23:30  
**

I smirked as I regarded my three latest victims, this was all going very well. I had been careful with how much of the gas I used and made sure to put enough force behind my punch. They’d all be out for quite some time. Long enough for me to put the next step of the my plan into effect. I set the large flashlight down next to Chris and then turned and began to drag  Kyle and  Ashley's unconscious form s away.  A short while later ,  I stood on the landing of the steps leading upstairs and listened carefully,  I could hear the sounds of  Sam moving upstairs, in the bathroom. Smirking beneath  my mask,  I lit the candle on its holder next to the landing and turned, walking away.  I had to act fast, get Kyle to the special place I had prepared for him, just like Jess and then I could take Ashley for the next part of the plan, she wouldn’t be joining Kyle and Jess just yet.  


_**Chris** _

**00:14  
**

Slowly, with my head pounding from the blow I had received, I recovered consciousness.

“Ungh, ugh..what the fu...” I groaned.

I slowly stumbled to my feet, picking up a flashlight that had been put next to me.

“Oh no...” I choked out, remembering what had happened. “Ashley!!”

I immediately looked around seeing no sign of her, I began to search, looking around wildly, using the flashlight to aid me in this search. I was scared shitless, wondering where she was, not only that, Kyle was missing too.  
  
“Ash, Kyle...ASH!?”

I just exited the kitchen and spotted something on the floor, picking it up I saw it was Ashley coin purse.

“Not good...” I muttered. “Not good at all.”

I hurried onwards searching all the more frantically after seeing a horrific sight, bloodstains decorating a wall, recent. I began to fear for Kyle and Ashley’s lives.

‘ _Please don’t let them be, please...’_ I thought desperately.

I soon spotted a door that led outside, wide open. I hurried out and began calling out as I began to follow the path.

“Ash! ASHLEY! Kyle, Ashley! Anyone out there? Ashley? Kyle, Ash...? ASH?!?”

But all my calls went unanswered only increasing my panic.

I came to a fork in the road and initially tried to turn left, only for a mannequin to spring up, clad in a scarecrow mask.

“WHOA!!” I cried out, utterly aghast. “What in the hell? Who would do this?”

Looking past it I was greeted by the unwelcome sight of a severed pig’s head. Shivering in disgust I turned and followed the other path, heading towards the old shed, I quietly entered, not seeing anything save what the light from my flashlight showed me.

I bit his lip as  I slowly walked.  _‘What is going on here, wait that’s, that’s...’_

I could hear quiet sobbing and immediately recognized the person crying as Ashley. Just then a cage dangling from the roof fell, nearly landing on me.

I leapt back. “HEY, GOD DAMMIT!”

“Chris…?” Ashley called out, clearly having hearing me yell.

Reacting at once I looked around wildly.

“Ash I’m here!”

“Please...” She choked out through sobs. “Help me...”

Trying to follow her voice I spoke again. “I’m comin’ Ash – just kept talking to me! What happened?”

“Chris, he tied me up...” Ashley sobbed. “I can’t move! Kyle is, Kyle is gone, he wasn’t here when I...”  
  
Even more worried than ever now, terrified for her safety, and wondering what the hell happened to Kyle, I spoke again. “Ashley, I’m gonna get you out of this, don’t worry!”

“I’m really scared Chris!” She replied; her voice trembling. “Hurry, please!!!! Oh god Chris! You have to get me out of here before he comes back!”

I continued to follow her voice until suddenly a light flared, revealing a horrific scene.

I gaped in sheer horror at the sight before  me , a mesh cage prevented  me from getting any closer, there was a small gate set in the cage on  my right hand side, but it was clearly locked. Before  me was a lever, in the middle position, it could be turned left or right. What disturbed  me most was that on the panel behind the level, two pictures, of two very familiar people were shown. Looking up  I saw Ashley and next to her, out cold, was Josh, they were attached to a large metal board, held up by their arms, secured in chains. Beneath them was mine cart tracks which joined into a single track. What chilled  me to the bone however was the mine cart itself, sitting at the end of this track, on it, situated so that it would be at waist height of the two captives, was a coldly gleaming circular saw.

“Unnghh...Chris...” Ashley spoke weakly, squinting against the light. “Are you there?”

Before I could respond another voice, distorted, spoke up, coming through speakers.

“Hello.”

Ashley screamed and I jumped, looking around.

“And thank you all for joining me.” It continued.

Freaking out now Ashley cried out to her fellow captive. “JOSH! Oh my GOD, JOSH WAKE UP!!”

“Huh?” Josh groaned as her finally recovered, horror dawning as he realized his position. “What…? What is this?”

Acting frantically I tried to open the door, to force it, but to no avail.

Detached and casual, the distorted voice continued. “ Tonight we're going to conduct a little experiment. A sort of test.”

Just hearing those words clearly struck fear into the hearts of all three of us.

Trying to struggle against his bonds Josh cried out.

“Ashley, what the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know…!” She screamed, totally freaking out.

I found myself breathing heavily, my heart thumping, terror coursing through my veins, what was going on, was I going to watch my friends die, was this saw I could see before me…

“Now, for this experiment.” The voice continued. “We'll need the cooperation of our two test subjects... Joshua and Ashley...”

“Holy shit, oh my god...” Josh gasped as he realized with dawning horror what that meant.

Ashley too realized and took another panic attack.

The voice then revealed the true horror of its plan. “ But we're going to need more than one brave participant to help decide... which subject will live, and which will die.”

“OH NO! MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH GOD, CHRIS! GET US OUT OF HERE!” Ashley screamed, completely losing it.

Josh sadly wasn’t much more composed himself. “NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! LET ME DOWN FROM HERE YOU MANIAC!”

“Please, please, please, everyone calm down.” The voice stated in a matter of fact tone. “It’s all very simple.”

I shook  my head.  _‘Simple, what’s fucking simple about this, psycho?’_

I realized then that this person had to be the masked man who had attacked Kyle, Ashley and me earlier.

The psycho then gave his instructions.

“Christopher, you will find a lever placed directly in front of you. All you have to do... is choose who you will save!”

I froze, this whack-job was forcing me to choose something so horrific, I had to kill either Ashley or Josh, in order to save the other.

Ashley  broke into a blind panic again, just as she began recovering from the last time. “ Oh no... please! This can't be happening...! Oh god oh god oh god...! This isn't right...”

“Shit... shit... no!” Josh cried out, before forcing himself to calm down. “Okay... okay... okay... okay, this is gonna be okay...”

I paced back and forth, panicking myself as the stress of what I had just been told hit me hard.

“Oh Crap. Oh Crap. Oh Crap. Oh Crap. Oh Crap.” I muttered to myself frantically.

Josh tried to reason with me, while Ashley pleaded desperately.

“Dude... buddy... Let's just think about this for a minute...” He said as calmly as he could.

Ashley  began crying in despair. “ Oh my god! CHRIS! You CAN'T LET ME DIE!”

“Just, just, just...” I stammered, feeling dizzy from too much pressure. “Gimme a second, I, I can’t think straight, shit...”

They were watched me frantically as I thought about it. I thought as quickly as I could, about everything, my friendship with Josh, my crush on Ashley, too much was whirling through my mind. I soon made my choice however, no matter what I chose it would be gut-wrenching to me, but I went with my heart.

“Ashley, I’ll get you out of this, I won’t let you die!” I cried.

Ashley’s relief was palpable. “Oh God, thank go! Oh thank you, thank you!”

“NO, please no!” Josh cried out; shock and anger waging war over his features.

Hand trembling I turned the lever and the saw blade started up, the tracks points switched and the cart began to slowly move.

Seeing the path the cart was taking, Josh cried out.

“AAHHH!!! NO CHRIS!”

The Psycho spoke again, I could almost hear his grin. “Ah...I see. You have chosen...to save Ashley.”

“Oh...Oh no...” I stammered, unable to believe I had to make such a choice and now watch the consequences. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no...”

“OH GOD JOSH!!” Ashley screamed, realizing what was about to happen.

Freaking out entirely, Josh began screaming at me, I spoke across him at the same time, while the saw blade edged ever closer.

“I thought we were FRIENDS man! I thought we were FRIENDS why would you DO THIS!?” Josh yelled desperately.

“I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!! THIS IS MADNESS, PLEASE!”

The saw blade was nearly reaching Josh and he cried out again.

“NO! OH GOD WHAT DID I DO!??”

He never finished his statement for at that moment he just screamed as the saw started to cut him open.

“Stop it, you can’t do this, please no!” I screamed. “Oh Josh, Josh I’m so sorry!”  
  
Hearing Josh’s screams Ashley continued to freak out, eyes clenched shut. “OH NO! MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH GOD, CHRIS! GET US OUT OF HERE!”

Josh only stopped screaming once the saw finished its bloody work, and just like that, it was over. Ashley, now spattered across the left side of her face and clothes with the blood, began to turn her head.

Not wanting her to witness the horror that was nearly making  me throw up,  I spoke sharply. “No, no, no, D-don’t look Ashley, don’t look!”  
  
“ Why can't I look, Chris? Please tell me he's okay, please...!”  Ashley pleaded, yet conceded to  my words, keeping her eyes tightly shut.

At that moment the gate opened and I rushed in.

I quickly got to work, trying hard not to look at Josh’s corpse for longer than I had to.

“I’m coming Ash, gonna get you...” I said as I began untying her, she wept, either in terror or relief, or maybe both, I couldn’t say. “Shhh – stop, please- Come on, come on, let's get you down... come on... we're gonna get you out of here…”

I finally got Ashley down to the ground and began escorting her away. But then she opened her eyes only to scream in dismay at the sight of Josh’s mangled body. I quickly covered her eyes and began escorting her, sobbing and shaking from the shed. We kept going, both in tears and both traumatized by what we had just been part of.

“Chris, Ashley!” We heard Matt’s voice calling on them.

Looking up we spotted him and Emily, rushing over to them. Emily’s eyes instantly widened when she got a good look at Ashley.  
  
“Blood, Blood!” She gaped. “Whose blood is that Ash, Chris what happened?”

Matt was immediately worried, asking if they were okay.

“J-Josh...” I choked out through his tears.

“Josh what dude?” Matt asked softly, clearly seeing my distress.

Breathing shakily, I admitted. “He’s dead...Right in front of us man-”

Both Matt and Emily froze at that.  
  
“What are you talking about?” Emily demanded at once.

“There’s a maniac...” I choked out.

“Maniac?” Matt echoed, his worry now increasing tenfold.

Emily shook her head. “Oh my god, we gotta get outta here.”

Matt however was confused. “I don’t understand, what happened?”

I tried to compose himself but couldn’t.

In the end I gave a broken and choked account of what had happened in the shed.

“There's a maniac! And... he was- there was a saw... and it was either him or Ash and I didn't know what to do!”

Ashley sobbed at that and I continued.

“Cut right through him and- spilling out fucking everywhere-”

Emily reacted in horror and utter disgust. “ WHAT!? OH my god Chris what!?”

I whimpered as  I added. “ I-I killed him!... I-I killed him...”

I kept lamenting that one fact while Emily and Matt tried to calm me down, Emily still insistent on going to get help.

“We’re gonna figure this out man.” Matt said, trying to reassure me I guessed.

“Matt, we need to go get help, now.” Emily said firmly.

“Em...” He replied, shaking his head. “We should look for the others.”

Shaking her head Emily shot back. “Mike and Jess are off 69’ing each other and who knows where Sam is.”

I then realized to my horror. “I think she’s in the lodge-and, and Kyle’s gone...”

I didn’t need to finish, that she was there, all alone, worse Kyle was still missing.

“Wait what?”

We all turned to see Jamie and Brian approaching. Brian looked at us in shock.

“What the fuck is going on?” He asked.

We quickly explained and they both gasped.

Jamie then revealed. “We...there is definitely someone up here, we were following him before we lost him and then tried to find you guys...Fuck, we really gotta do something.”

“Fine, fine.” Emily replied, keeping a cool head. “You're right. Get everyone else together. But if there's a maniac running around I think we need to get some help, too, right? Not just wait around?”

Matt wasn’t so sure. “But what about-?”

Emily was vehement however. “ Why are we still talking about this? Let's go!”

Finally recovering their composure enough to agree, Jamie and Ashley immediately headed back to the lodge with me while Brian, Emily and Matt began heading for the cable car station, determined to find anything that would aid them in sending for help.


	6. Chapter 5: Dread

**Until Dawn: The Light of Day**

**Chapter 5: Dread**

**Six Hours Until Dawn  
**

_**Mike** _

**01:03  
**

I crouched by a wall, near the building I had seen. I ached all over from the constant running, the cold bit into my body and I was still trying to process what I has seen back in the mines, with the blood, my fears of what happened to Jess.

“Jesus.” I muttered, ducking down before I was seen.

The stranger I had followed from the mines, the one I was sure was behind what happened to Jess, was walking up the path towards the building. I had heard growling and, peeking over the wall again, saw the stranger wasn’t alone. Two wolves were with him, the stranger began to turn his head.

“Dammit.” I muttered, ducking again.

I watched as the stranger seemed to close a door in the side of the building, before moving to the front of the building and entering.

“Alright...” I muttered to myself. “Let’s get a closer look.”

I grunted, trying to ignore the pain as I climbed over the wall, still carrying my lantern.

Walking towards the building my mind replayed those horrifying moments again and again. _‘Dammit Jess, I’m so sorry, I...I...I swear I will get this guy,_ _he_ _will pay for what_ _he_ _did to you.’_

I paused by the door; I wondered if I should risk it. Then decided to check what the stranger had been doing first, in case it offered an alternative. I soon figured out where I was when I came across a sign on the building, labelling it as condemned, yet also identifying it as a sanatorium.

“Awesome. Why wouldn't I end up on the creepiest place on planet earth?” I remarked sarcastically.

I reached where the Stranger had been and found a metal plate against the wall.

Grunting and muttering in exertion I pushed it aside to reveal, just as I had suspected, another entrance to the sanatorium, leading into the basement by the look of it. I carefully clambered in and jumped down to the floor before looking around.

“Dammit, alright...”

I knew I was going blind here, the lantern was his only light source and I had no idea of the layout of the building. Still I continued onwards, searching the building as thoroughly as I could, there wasn’t much room to move about, but I saw a hole in the ceiling, if I get up to the elevated path, I could then hopefully find something to use to climb through it, that would hopefully take me into the main building.  Careful searching turned up a barrel which I set the lantern on and, preparing himself, I began pushing it until it was in perfect position. Retrieving the lantern, I climbed onto the barrel and up onto the elevated path. I couldn’t believe  my luck when I found solid footing in the form of a broken machine on its side, right underneath the hole. I wasted no time climbing up and poking  my head out of the hole, seeing  my immediate surroundings.

“Whoa, that’s different.” I commented as I pulled myself up onto what appeared to be the main floor of the building.

The sanatorium was in complete disrepair, it was clear some parts of it had completely collapsed, there were fallen walls, I was certain some of the doors were busted. The only plus side I could see right now was I was out of the snow, away from the freezing cold. It helped me focus  my mind on  my pursuit,  my determination for vengeance.  Knowing I had to start somewhere I approached the first door that didn’t seem to be a dead end, apparently leading to the chapel, according to the sign. Peeking through a window by the door I saw the stranger again, throwing something to the two wolves who began eating it.

“Whoa, what the…?” I whispered, praying it an old fashioned dog bone or animal meat and not human.

Trying the door I found, to  my frustration, that it was locked, I needed a keycard of some sort. I peeked through again and saw the stranger was gone and the wolves were just leaving.  I had no choice now, I’d have to search wherever I could, leaving no stone unturned, to find the keycard. Turning away from the chapel I began his search in the very hall I was currently in.  All  my search turned up here was administration notes to the sanatorium staff about the arrival of a group of miners who had been caught in a cave in at the mines, it was dated 1952 and I suddenly remembered the map I had found when Jess  and I had passed through a section of the mines, detailed sections of the mine that were unstable. The notes also mentioned that the press were being forced away from the building.

I couldn’t deny I didn’t like what I was discovering, what appeared to be a decades old cover-up. I continued my search however, all this could wait until I found that man and made him pay.

‘ _Gotta keep moving, c’mon, it’s gotta be here somewhere.’_ I told myself.

However I was once more confronted with the 1952 mine mystery when, while searching the admin office I came across a broken camera and a partially opened safe with a wooden stake next to it.

“Whoa, someone really wanted to take a peek inside.” I noted before finishing the job.

Inside I uncovered thirty clocking-in cards for miners. I deduced then that this was the number of miners caught in the cave in. I still couldn’t understand about the broken camera however, only that the damage looked deliberate.  Mystery was piling upon mystery here, I briefly considered that maybe, this stranger was looking into this 1952 mystery and these were clues  he had gathered. It appeared the sanatorium, which seemed the center of said mystery was also, conveniently, his base.

Shaking  my head I reminded  my self.  _ ‘ But then, why attack Jess, what is  he hiding, what is  he up to?’ _

Resuming my search for the keycard, I began heading down the corridor, towards what the signs indicated was the morgue, just what I needed to cheer myself up.

There were still a couple of offices, just before the steps leading down to the morgue, that were accessible, so I checked them first.  In the first office I found an old newspaper detailed an assault on a reporter, suddenly making sense of the broken camera.

“Huh, intrigue on Blackwood Mountain.” I mused.

It was clear now, something was definitely being hidden here, covered up, especially when the other office yielded medical reports that did not tally with  my findings so far,  a  report on only twelve miners, not thirty, eighteen were unaccounted for. Perplexed but by no means distracted I made  my way down the steps towards the morgue.  In the outer corridor I came across a partially open room, debris prevented me from actually entering but I could see a bird sitting on a table right by the door and embedded in said table was a machete.

‘ _Urgh, just great...well, I think I’m gonna need a weapon...better than nothing.’_ I told myself before reaching it.

The bird cawed and flew away while I was able to finally pull the machete free. Grimacing I stuck it in my belt and continued my search of the morgue itself. Noticing an odd shape behind a curtain I pulled aside to find a restraining chair, soaked in blood.

“Holy shit...” I gasped. “Ugh, what happened here?”

My continued exploration of the morgue offices and rooms led me to find another part of the 1952 mystery, a telegram which seemed to indicate there was indeed only twelve miners brought to the sanatorium, but thirty had indeed gone down the mines that fateful excursion and that a massive cover-up was underway.

I shook  my head at the fear of reporters flooding the place.  _‘_ _Gee, who wouldn't want press snooping around in this paradise?_ _’_

My search led to another room, of which I could not identify the original purpose.

Whatever the room used to be, it now only featured several tables and boxes and, strangely enough, a moving arm attached to a table, which jerked back and forth at irregular intervals.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa?” I spluttered, startled as I approached. “Is this what he was feeding them?”

I shuddered at that, had the wolves devoured human flesh. I then saw a note attached to the hand and tried to pull it off to examine it. What happened next happened so fast, I barely had time to react the way I did. The cover on the table fell away and a bear trap snapped shut, clamping around the fourth finger and smallest finger of his left hand. I screamed in agony and tried futilely to free my fingers.

“Ugh, ah, fuck!” I cried out.

I had to do something. I then remembered the machete. Trying hard to focus through the pain, I examined the bear trap, too rusty to open, there was only one option.

‘ _You have got to be fucking kidding me, this can’t...’_ I thought desperately as I drew the machete and moved it into position. “Shit. Oh shit... oh shit... oh shit... oh shit... oh shit... oh shit... oh shit... oh shit! Fuck... ugh!”

With one clean slice I amputated the two fingers caught in the trap and screamed in agony again. Trying to force myself to work through the pain, I spotted an unused first aid kit lying nearby and quickly retrieved bandages, tightly wrapping his fingers to staunch the bleeding and bind my wounds.

I shook  my head, trying to calm  my frantic breathing.  _‘Shit, can’t believe I...urgh, never...have to cope with it for now. Just pray it doesn’t get worse.’_

I slowly calmed down, trying to will myself to continue on, looking around at the doors around me.

“Eeeny... Meeny... miney... moh... catch a tiger by the toe... if he... Let him go... I don't know where the fuck to go... okay...” I muttered, picking up the machete.

L uckily I got a hint as I approached one door, the temperature dropped. I recalled from the various crime dramas I sometimes saw that morgues had to be relatively cold places. It had to be through here.

Entering the morgue I was face to face with a strange, deformed but still human skull on a shelf.

‘ _This place just gets better and better.’_ I thought sarcastically.

Continuing my search I found, to my frustration that the door out was locked and required a keycard, the same keycard I needed for entering the chapel too.

I growled as I turned to survey the room again.  _ ‘You’ve gotta be kidding.’ _

There was only one place I hadn’t searched, three actually. Three body drawers, the only ones not rusted shut.  Forcing  my self I examined them, two brought out a name tag of a man named Nicholas Bowen, the second a death certificate for a Sarah Smith. It was clear they were part of the 1952 mystery, especially the death certificate which seemed to indicate that Sarah had been partially...eaten, by something with very human teeth.

Opening the third drawer, I thought disgustedly to  my self.  _‘Okay, is drawer number three the winner?’_

It was as inside was an uncovered body, I nearly threw up, especially when a rat climbed out of the corpse’s mouth. Containing  my self I was able to spot just what I needed, the chapel keycard, on the body. I picked it up and turned away gratefully.  I reached the locked door again, unlocked it and, taking the keycard with me, entered the next corridor, which appeared to be in the back part of the chapel. I began climbing the stairs when I was ambushed by one of the wolfs. Crying out I ran for  my life, the wolf right on  my heels, growling and snapping at me.

With a mighty effort, I escaped the wolf, slamming shut the door behind me. Fighting desperately for breath, pretty sure I was going to give myself a heart attack at this rate, I realized was in the upper levels of the chapel and could see down below. I needed to get back to the chapel’s main door. So I followed the path and climbed down a fallen staircase.

“Oh, right, back in here.” I muttered with relief.

I was back in the main entrance, steps away from the chapel main doors.  I hurried over as best I could in  my weakened state and opened them before entering. Just then I heard the growl and turned sharply to  my left, the other wolf was there, growling at me. On instinct, I almost lashed out, but then told  my self not to, instead I stepped back, holding up  my hands. The wolf growled, but in a less threatening manner.

“Okay...okay...” I said softly. “Easy boy, easy, easy...that’s a good boy.”

I gently reached edged to the side and the wolf let me pass, settling itself down on the floor.  I let out a relieved sigh and began to examine the room,  my first point of interest in the run down, rubble filled chapel was a wooden chest, filled with bones.

“Maybe this’ll keep the wolves fat and happy.” I said to myself, almost laughing in relief.

It seemed my earlier concern had been wrong. Taking one of the bones I approached the wolf and whistled, getting its attention. I held out the bone and the wolf slowly came closer before gently taking it from my hand, I stroked the wolf and smiled as the animal seemed much more friendly now.

One I finished patting the wolf, I resumed my search around the room, now no longer paranoid about being attacked from behind by the wolf. I spotted a cigar bow on a table in the middle of the room and recognized the brand from the cigar stub I had seen earlier that night.

‘ _Ahh... the stogie stash exposed.’_

Something else caught my eye, a wall that was covered in various newspaper clippings, all of them about strange disappearances and did not make me any happier about the man I was pursuing.

One thing I did benefit from my search was a slightly tattered olive green army jacket. Smirking I pulled it on, relieved for the extra heat it provided.

“So...what have we here?”

Through a gap in a mesh fence, just behind where the jacket hung, was a gun. Reaching in I tried to grab it but couldn’t reach it.

“Come on!”  
  
Shaking my head I instead reached lower, to a leg holding the shelf against the wall and, with a bit of effort, pulled it off, making the gun slide into my hand. I smiled, I still had the machete, and now had a gun, now I felt I had a better chance. Approaching the door at the back of the room, the only possible exit the stranger could have taken, I shot the lock and moved into the next room. Searching this area unearthed only a large stone memorial to ‘the miracle men’ the twelve surviving miners, still with no mention of the missing eighteen. Following the large staircase downwards into an underground area, I found another gate blocking my path and several barrels.

“Of course it’s locked.” I muttered.

Shoving an empty barrel out of the way I took aim and fired, breaking the lock.

But  my victory was short lived as I tried to go through the gate, for I then saw the fire. Some of the barrels will filled with flammable liquid, some had spilled onto the floor and the sparks from shooting the lock had ignited it. Seeing this I began to back off.

“Shit, shit, shit...” I cried out as I tried to flee. “URGH!”

I cried out as the small explosion occurred, knocking me backwards onto the ground.

_**Matt** _

**01:05  
**

Emily Brian and I walked together, mostly quiet, still processing everything that had been revealed to is.

“I can’t believe Josh is dead.” Emily said at last.

I sighed sadly. “I can’t believe how I died...”

Emily shook her head however. “No, I mean, what if they were wrong?”

“What?” Brian and I gasped.

She turned to us. “Maybe we should've checked the shed, to see if it was really true.”

I grimaced at that.

“I don’t know...” I replied hesitantly. “There are some things that, once you see them, you can never unsee them.”

Emily sighed, shoulders slumped. “Yeah, I guess...But some things you have to see for yourself.”

I shuddered. “I’ll take their word for it.”

Brian bit his lip, but said nothing, clearly unsure.

Emily did not reply, I guessed none of us wished to press the matter further. We approached the cable car station, only to note something odd, yet in a way, a blessing in disguise, what with there being a psycho running around. An axe was lodged in the door to the cable car station.

“Look, an axe...” I cried, seeing it first. “I feel better with an axe.”

Emily and Brian nodded, now we’d have a means to protect ourselves. I pulled the axe from the door and Emily stepped forward to try and open it.

But it wouldn’t open. “Oh what now? This is locked Matt!”

Brian sighed. “Great, just great.”  
  
I sighed and shook my head.

“Well, break the door down will ya?” Emily demanded.

I realized right away what she meant but knew the risks, I had to warn her.

I shook my head.

“Whoa, wait a second.” I told her. “We start smashing shit down I's gonna hear us.”

Emily rolled her eyes. “You got any better suggestions?”

I shrugged. “I dunno, what about...look!”  
  
I spotted it right away and when Emily questioned me I pointed it out, an ajar window.

“That’s great Matt.” Emily shot back, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “I can just about fit my lip balm through that little slot.”

“No come on.” I urged her.

She sighed and emphasized. “You will never fit through there, big guy.”

Brian commented. “Can we make a decision already please, we’re getting frozen out here, not to mention that guy could be coming for us.

I groaned but conceded their points and approached the door.

Okay fine. Here goes.”  I muttered. “I'm gonna huff, and I'm gonna----”

“Shhh! Just do it!” Emily cried.

Nodding I attempted to smash the door down with the axe, my second attempt caused the axe to stick and I had to wrench it free, the third blow however was successful and we entered the cable car station. Emily turned on the lights and we froze, the station was devastated, trashed, and to top it all off, threatening graffiti adorned the walls.

“Oh, God damn...” was all I could manage.

Emily shook her head in disbelief, uttering in barely coherent form. “What happened?”

“This is crazy-”

“We were just here, like, a few hours ago.” Emily burst out. “This must have just happened!”

I did not like this, not one bit. “What the fuck is going on?”

We continued to look around at the devastated cable car station.

Finally, Emily came to the only possible conclusion she could reach.

“It’s gotta be the guy, the one who got to Chris and Ash...and Josh...”

I knew what this meant and shared my worry. “I’s gotta know this is the only way out.”

“Oh, don’t say that.” Emily groaned, shivering in fear.

It was then Brian spotted the cable car, hanging a distance out from the station.

“Look, the cable car’s all the way up there.” He pointed it out.

Emily looked at it and bit her lip. “Well that’s...I mean, that’s not far right, you...you can jump it Matt?”

I scoffed at that. “Ha, I’m good Em, but not that good...flattered though.”

“Well Matt, if you can’t jump that, what are we gonna do!?”

“I..I don’t know.” I replied honestly.

Emily looked around as I tried to find anything useful in the mess, as did Brian all three of us commented on the decrepit state of the station while I finally righted a map of the area, I spotted it.

“Hey, look, fire tower...” I pointed it out.

Emily however was more focused on other matters. “ Hey. Magellan. Maybe we should get the cable car working and get this show on the road, huh?”

I sighed; this was getting on my nerves, especially in regards to what I had seen before.

I shook my head, turning to her.

“You know what, no.” I snapped. “I have something to talk to you about...”  
  
“Matt, this is hardly...”  
  
“Just listen to me!” I snapped; startling her and Brian. “I know what you did, Emily.”  
  
She shook her head. “Matt, you just...”

But I cut her off. “I saw you and Mike on the trail, why do I think I fought with him! Now I’m starting to wonder if maybe I was getting angry at the wrong person. Why would you do this to me!”

She glowered. “Oh, really, you think that just because we’re dating that you own me!”

“Don’t even try that shit, Em. I’m not falling for it, you can try and turn this around on me if you want, but YOU are the one who-”

“Fuck you Matt; if that’s how you feel then maybe we just shouldn’t be together anymore!” She snarled.

I shook my head. “Fine by me!”

With that I turned away; as Emily’s expression crumpled; she clearly hadn’t been expecting that. I sighed, it still stung; having to do that, but it had to be done. An uneasy silence followed until Brian broke it.

“Okay, um, guys.” He said seriously. “I get this is nasty, dramatic and all that; but don’t you think we should be, um...FOCUSING ON WHAT’S IMPORTANT HERE!”

We both turned, startled by his sudden outburst.

“I, um...” I stammered.

Emily glared. “Just what do you think…?”  
  
“I’m thinking we should be looking to get help for everyone; instead of petty personal dramas, but if that’s the way you feel fine.” He snapped. “You guys just go ahead and go back to the lodge and get yourselves killed while _I_ do what we should be doing!”

Another uneasy silence followed that, we shared an uneasy look, but in the end we yielded to Brian’s decision; he was right after all.

_**Brian** _

**01:13  
**

Matt noticed the controls, and saw one obstacle to us using it.

"Well, no keys, no cable car.", He said.

"What about the fire tower from your map?", Emily asked. "We could use the radio in it to call for help."

"If it has one, that is.", I added.

Emily nodded, seeing my point.

Matt wasn't impressed with the idea at all.

"What else would you have us do?" Emily demanded

"Go back to the lodge." He explained.

"You idiot!.", I yelled. "If he's out there, that might be the first

place he'll look for us!."

"Matt, you're not helping!.", Emily told him.

"I say we find this tower, and if the radio works, we use it.", I cut in.

Matt sighed. "If you two feel that strongly about it-"

"We do."

We left the cable car station, eventually finding a ladder, but, it was out of our reach for now.

I helped Emily up the ladder, being as careful as I could. After all, we didn't know how long this place had been abandoned for. Soon Emily was able to release the ladder which slid down to a ledge below.

“Perfect, we can totally get out this way, let’s go.” She said.

With that she went down the ladder, I followed and Matt brought up the rear.

A flashlight caught Emily's attention.

"Careful, Em, it may not have that much battery left.", I warned.

"At least we can see where we're going for a while.", She told me.

We started moving around, but, Emily hadn't judged it right, almost falling off the ledge, but I caught her in the nick of time.

"You alright?" I asked, worried.

"Yeah.” She replied, her voice trembling. “How about you go first?"

I had to smile.

Soon, we reached the end.

Emily gasped. "Thank God that's over."

"Is it?" Matt remarked; not unkindly, but concerned.

"Here's hoping."

We started making our way.

"Y'know, if the radio doesn't work, we'll need a plan B.", I said.

"Climbing down the mountain.", Matt pointed out.

"Have you lost your mind?", I shot back.

Matt shook his head. "It shouldn't come to that."

"He won't give up." Emily muttered.

Matt tried to reason. "I know, but, we'd better find a good hiding spot, figure things out in the morning."

I knew he was right so I conceded the point. I was losing track of time. We continued on, soon finding a wooden bridge. Matt stepped on one board, which creaked.

“Huh?” Emily gasped.

“What the…?” Matt muttered.

He knelt down and pulled the board loose, he reached his hand inside. He soon found a phone inside it.

He gasped. "What the fuck? How'd this get here?"

Emily recognized it.

"Beth's phone?"

"This is starting to get weird.", I commented.

Matt sighed. "Tell me about it."

We kept moving, soon finding a cliff top.

I cringed. "Whoa, okay, let's be careful."

"Right, don't wanna plummet to our deaths." Matt muttered.

A shrill scream caught our attention.

"What's that?" Emily cried out.

"No idea."

What looked to be Caribou deer appeared. We all looked around. No escape.

We were trapped like rats.

_**Sam** _

**01:11**

I smiled, enjoying the relaxing feeling that spread through me as I lounged in the bath,  my iPod was situated on the wide edge, far enough away from the water to avoid any problems.  My headphones were plugged in and  I was listening to Bach, Suite No. 1 prelude in G Major.  I was deeply into the music and rocking  my body slightly in motion with the music, eyes closed. Therefore  I was startled when I  just  barely heard the door, felt the gust from it, as well as notic ing the candle extinguishing from it too.  I pulled out  my headphones, pushing them and  my iPhone away from the ledge completely.

“Hello?” I called out. “Guys? What are you doing out there?”

I glared and shook my head, muttering. “Being creepy?”

I got no response however. Sighing heavily I began to climb out of the bath.

“Oh...kay...”

I quickly retrieved a white towel nearby and wrapped it around myself, covering myself as best as I could. Holding a hand against the towel for added security I approached the chair I had laid out my clothes on, only to stop and stare in disbelief.

My clothes were gone, all except for one sock.

“ Oh for Pete's sake. My clothes? Really?”  I complained before calling out. “Whichever one of you did this is off my Christmas list. Seriously, not cool, guys. Not cool at all.”

I stalked over to the bathroom door,  opening it and stepped out into the corridor.  I looked around and couldn’t see or hear anyone. Instantly  my mind flashed back to when they pranked Hannah and  I felt uneasy,  I glanced down to make sure the towel covered  me and began to walk.

“Kyle? Chris? Josh?” I called out; hoping for some reassurance from the least likely suspects. “What the hell?”

Suddenly a loud noise startled me, making me stagger back, but it was just the old grandfather clock chiming.

“Ugh, stupid clock.”

I was now out on the balcony and called out again.

“Chris? Mike? Emily? This is really getting out of hand, okay?” I shook my head and continued. “It was all very funny, ha ha, look at I walking around in a towel, but now I just really want this to be over, alright? You had enough?”

Still no answer, but I noticed something that bothered me, next to the stairs was a balloon, with an arrow on it, pointing down them. I bit my lip and made my way downstairs, I was still damp but thankfully not dripping wet, still didn’t make me feel any less embarrassed though. I mean, the towel was the only thing standing between me and being naked after all.

I reached the lower main room and looked around, before stalking out to the front entrance.

“Can I have my clothes back now or am I supposed to hang out in a towel for the rest of the weekend?...” I demanded, only to again be greeted with silence. “Towel it is, then.”

It was then something caught my eye, a strange business card for a slaughter house, on the back was a request for dead pigs and circular saw blades. While confusing I left it, I had more pressing issues as I returned and decided to continue following the balloons that showed up, guiding me apparently to the basement.

“Okay, if you were trying to freak me out, guess what, you succeeded.” I said, more trying to reassure myself as I was getting unnerved by all this.

I found that, to my surprise, the normally locked cinema room doors were wide open. I picked up the flashlight Kyle had used earlier and turned it on, stepping into the room.

“Where the hell are you guys?” I demanded. “Whoa, this is weird...”

The room was actually set up and seemed to be showing a movie, or rather, the static when a movie wasn’t in focus.

I exhaled sharply,  I was at the end of  my tether now. “ Hey! Guys come ON! I am DONE with this! I really don't appreciate the silent treatment here!”

But my angry tirade was cut off by the cinema doors slamming shut, by themselves. I screamed and again when a distorted voice began to talk.

“Hello Samantha.” It said, sounding rather sarcastic and mocking. “Looking for me? I don't think you'll have much luck by looking, Samantha.”

I looked around wildly, my heart pounding.

“What the, what the hell…!” I whispered in fear.

The distorted voice spoke again. “You’re only going to see what I want you to see, and I have quite a lot to show you.”

I shook my head. “What is, what is going on…!?”  
“Open your eyes.”

The large screen flared to life properly and I turned to face it, eyes widening with shock and revulsion as it showed footage of me in the bath.

Someone had been recording me, had seen me naked.

“Oh my god...” My words were barely breathed out, I now felt utterly violated.

The distorted voice continued, mocking  me . “ She's quite beautiful, isn't she. A beautiful bathing bird…”

I looked around frantically again. “How, why, why did you…?”

“Do you think she has any idea what lies ahead? Do you think these were the last happy moments of this creature's life?”

An icy stab of fear ran down my spine at those words. “Why are you showing this to me?”

“Why are you watching?”

With a shaky breath I turned around before screaming at what was now being shown, footage of Josh getting cut in half.

“Josh!” I cried. “OH MY GOD, WHAT DID YOU DO!?”

The voice however took on a more menacing tone at that moment.

“I’m going to give you ten seconds...Nine...”

“No, no...” I whispered, again looking around frantically, retreating to the nearby wall. “Nonono...”

“Eight, seven...”

“Please no...”

The door burst open and I screamed as the Psycho entered, the grin of his mask likely hiding a sadistic grin of his own.

“Sam.” he growled.

In his hand  he held a canister  of some sort, attached to it a nozzle and a breathing tube, connected to an oxygen mask.  my heart raced, there could be anything in that canister,  I had to keep it away from  me .

“No...No!” She pleaded.

But the Psycho began to draw closer.

Acting in a blind panic, I grabbed a nearby vase and threw it blindly at the Psycho, striking his arm and making  him stumble.  I ran for  my life, running through the door at the other end of the room,  I was in now in the guest room.

“Shit!” I cried out, I could already hear his footsteps. “Shit, shit, shit.”

Wasting no time  I leapt over the bed, flashlight guiding  my path, grasping at  my towel to keep it covering  my body, the last thing  I wanted was to lose it.  I was only halfway over the bed when the Psycho burst through the door and laughed. Screaming  I hurried over the rest of the bed and straight through the guest room door,  I ran along the hallway and down the basement,  but missed the damaged step and fell, crying out as  I felt  my knee flare up in pain, and saw the bloody graze on it; quickly recovering  I got back to  my feet and ran down the rest of the stairs .  I stopped and looked around,  I was in the basement, near to where the boiler was. Still in a panic  I ducked down near where the boiler was located, a damaged pillar was  my only cover and only went so far,  I instantly shut off the flashlight and waited, fear pumping through  me as  I squatted, praying silently.

“Sam?” The Psycho called out, slowly walking up until he was level with the pillar. “Why are you hiding?”

I went rigid and stayed as still as I could, praying he wouldn’t hear me.

He began to move away, but stopped, further up the corridor, blocking my only path.

“Sa-am...why prolong the inevitable?”

Gritting my teeth against my terror I stayed put.

He looked around, seemingly at ease; the videos were all the evidence  I needed, this man was dangerous. “ Why kid yourself into thinking you can get away? Don't you know I can smell you, I? I can smell your fear.”

He mockingly tapped the gas canister and I opted to remain where I was. That turned out to be a mistake for he turned back, walked until he was level with the pillar again and then, leapt out the other side, behind me.

“Gotcha, so sorry.” He mocked.

I screamed as  he grabbed  me and pressed the mask over  my mouth and nose, muffling  my screams as the gas hissed.  I instantly felt  mys elf getting groggy and realized, whatever it was, it was going to put  me to sleep. But then  I remembered, the last time  I had been here, what  I had  found with Kyle , what  I had left, just to  my right. Acting with  my last strength,  I grabbed the baseball bat and smacked the Psycho in the side of the head.  He cried out and fell, the mask also fell away. Coughing and trying to recover  my equilibrium, I hurried away,  turning the flashlight on again,  more desperate than ever,  my heart was pounding, adrenaline fueled by fear filled  me , but did nothing except add to  my current panic.  I reached end of a cellar corridor to find a door.  I struggled to open it, only to find a problem.

I was so frantic that the words spilled out.

“Are you kidding me?” I screamed in despair. “No HANDLE!?”

I heard laughter, the Psycho had caught up, screaming I pulled the nearby wine storage cabinet down. He stopped however before it could hit him. But there, on top of it, now fallen right at my feet, was the door handle. I grabbed it and frantically tried to get the door open as the Psycho began to step over the fallen cabinet, stepping right through the wood in his effort to catch me. I finally got through and slammed the door shut, locking it. But there was a grill in the door that was open, the Psycho reached in, grabbing for me.

“Ahh!” I screamed. “Get out!”

I slammed it shut on his hand, forcing  him to withdraw before  I closed that too, it could only open from this side.  But  I couldn’t stay here, it was getting more and more dangerous the longer  I evaded this man.  I turned and ran to the door at the end, it was locked.  I didn’t have time to do anything other than force it.  I shoved  my whole weight against the door, again and again, until  I finally broke through and fell down the gap into what appeared to be an underground hotel. Wincing in pain at the jarring fall I forced  my self upwards and looked around. To  my left was a passageway, to  my right, an elevator that was half down, yet the doors still opened, providing  me with a place to hide.  I made up  my mind at once and leapt inside the elevator.

Once there I ducked down and pressed myself against the wall below the door as much as possible, clutching my towel tightly. I heard his footsteps, drawing closer. I frantically held my breath and shut my eyes, praying desperately. My heart was hammering so hard in my chest I was amazed he couldn’t hear it. But it was then, too late, I realized my mistake. The flashlight was still on.

“Nice try.” The Psycho mocked.

I cried out as I was grabbed but then the mask was clamped over my mouth and nose again, it struck me full on and I let out muffled cries as my body crumpled and felt sluggish before I was let go. I crumpled into a heap, my last view was the Psycho climbing down into the elevator towards me, before everything went black.


	7. Chapter 6: Vengeance

**Until Dawn: The Light of Day**

**Chapter 6: Vengeance**

**Five Hours Until Dawn  
**

_**Emily** _

**02:03  
**

Panic gripped me as I looked around, Matt, Brian and I were standing warily at the edge of the cliff, the deer surrounded us, some moving a bit closer, but we couldn’t move back any further.

“Matt…!” I cried out, unable to stop the terror coating my voice. “What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do!?”

Matt tightened his grip on the axe for a minute, but then relaxed it. He seemed to be forcing himself to stay calm and focused. Brian too seemed to be fighting back his fear, he just looked at me, shaking his head slightly.

Matt spoke softly “ Stay calm... relax... they're just deer... they just want to check us out is all…”

“No, no, no Matt they're gonna hurt us-” I whimpered, not at all reassured.

Despite our argument Matt seemed to remain focused and gently tried to calm me and, gesturing for is to follow his lead, he began to slowly, carefully, walk forwards. I followed, edging forward, with Brian right next to me. He kept the axe held loose, at his side, not in any threatening position. I moved slowly, eyes half-closed as I didn’t want to see the herd closing in on me, but couldn’t let Matt out of my sight. The deer however stepped back, or moved around us, allowing us to walk through the herd without much issue. However, amongst the deer were their close cousins, Elk. One was now blocking our path. Matt stopped, prompting Brian and me to do the same. The Elk sniffed at him but he did not react, although his nerves were clearly on edge, I suddenly wished he didn’t have the axe.

The temptation to use it against this potential threat was clearly strong. Especially as more time passed, the Elk sniffed at him but simply would not back down, or even move, I was getting restless and trembling, just behind Matt. I had practically pressed myself right up against him and Brian who had edged closer to Matt.

“Don’t do it man.” Brian whispered. “Don’t antagonize them.”

Resisting the urge to attack, Matt slowly began to move again and to our relief, the Elk backed down. Finally, we emerged from the herd, unharmed and reached a small bundle of rocks we could climb. Quickly doing so, Brian, Matt and I emerged safely from the herd, now on the path that would lead us to the radio tower, amazingly falling into place with our plans perfectly. Letting out a sigh of relief, now we were finally out of that danger, I began to lead the way, holding the flashlight steady again. As we walked I began thinking carefully.

“If we do manage to get someone on the radio-”

“We will.” Matt insisted.

Rolling my eyes at his confidence I continued. “Then, we tell them we need help. What do we do while we wait?”

Matt thought for a moment. “I guess, we go back to the lodge and get everyone else.”

“Oh God, no the lodge.” I shook my head. “We should stay here. In case whoever it is needs to get back in touch with us?”

Brian interjected.  “ Let’s get that radio working first.”

I silently agreed with him, we’d try and call for help first, then we could worry about what to do next. We were almost at the tower, now it was just above us, across a small snowy clearing. As we approached the base of the tower, a blinding light suddenly flared to life.

“Ahh, that’s freakin’ bright!” I cried out, holding a hand in front of my eyes.

Matt did the same and grimaced. “No kidding!”  
  
I shook my head, frustrated. “I can’t see- what is that?”

“It’s just a security light.” Brian confirmed at last, squinting to try and see. “Motion sensor probably.”

I bit my lip and followed Matt and Brian, squinting my eyes until we were past the light and could see clearly again. We were now at the base of the fire tower and would have to climb the ladders to get up to the main room.

Before we could move however I heard something, it sounded like heavy breathing, but before I could react I heard a dull clang and heard Matt cry out. I spun around, in time to see Matt fall out of sight off the platform we were on. Standing there was a tall figure, clad in some sort of overalls with a horrifying clown mask. He turned to us and I couldn’t help it, I screamed. He laughed.

“Well now...who’s first?” He remarked with a cruel laugh.

His voice was distorted an evil, I was sure this was the guy who attacked Chris, Josh and Ashley before. Before either of could react he lunged forwards and, clearly assessing him as the bigger threat, shoved me aside as he attacked Brian. I grunted as I hit the wooden platform. Struggling to me feet I found the man standing again, Brian was out cold on the ground.

“No!”

He lunged for me, before I could move. He was holding a strange canister with some sort of breathing mask which he forced over my mouth and nose while grabbing me.

I cried out but the cries were muffled. “No, don’t, you can’t…!”  
  
There was a hissing noise as I was suddenly overcome by some sort of gas and soon blacked out.

_**Matt** _

**02:21  
**

I groaned as I woke up and found myself entangled in a dense clump of bushes. Struggling free I soon found myself standing once more on the platform beneath the fire tower.

I looked around wildly. “Emily, Brian!”

There was no answer, they were gone, so too was the guy who attacked us. Not only that I had lost the axe.

‘ _Shit, shit...that guy, he must have...he’s taken them, but...’_ I thought in a panic before trying to calm myself. _‘What do I do, I still need to get help, but they...’_

I groaned; I couldn’t be sure how long I had been out cold for. In the end I did the only thing I could think of doing and began climbing the ladders leading up to the fire tower.

As I did so my thoughts raced. _‘Alright, climb up, call for help, then go find the others.’_

Despite the wind picking up I managed the climb and soon I was up in the fire tower. Closing the trapdoor and locking it I took a deep breath, looking around. I soon spotted what I was looking for, a radio. I hurried over and tried it but there was no power.

“Shit...gotta be a switch...” I hissed.

Looking around I was soon forced to go back outside by opening the door leading to the balcony, luckily that indeed led me to a circuit box which, after I turned it on, brought power to the radio. Acting quickly I hurried over and began working with it until I could get a clear signal.

I was relieved to hear the voice coming through and tried to make contact.

“...ranger service for Blackwood County. Over.”

“Hello?” Anyone there?” I tried, hoping I could get through, I had found just who we were looking for, the people best equipped to help us. “Hello! Please say something if you're out there, please we need help. Over.”

There was a pause and then, suddenly.

“...Hello?” The ranger spoke.

I tensed hearing that, I had got through.   
  
The ranger replied and it was clear that he had at least picked something up from me . “ ...Hello is someone trying to contact us? This is the  park ranger service  for Blackwood County. I'm not getting your signal very well. Please speak slowly and clearly, over.”

Taking a deep breath I replied. “Please, we need help, we’re in danger, there’s a criminal on Blackwood Mountain...”

“If you can hear this, please repeat your message as I am unable to understand what you are saying, over. “

I grimaced, trying to stay calm and focused. “We need help.”

The ranger continued however. “Hello? Can you please identify yourself? Over.”

I took a deep breath and forced myself to do this right or we’d miss our chance.

So, trying to hard to maintain  my self-control,  I did as the ranger requested.

I spoke slowly and clearly. “Okay, this is...My name is Matt...hello?”

I checked the tuning on the radio as the ranger replied.

“You’re not coming through clearly, please repeat, over.”

I shook my head and tried to explain, as calmly as possible, what had happened.

So,  I cleared  my throat and explained. “ We're on Blackwood Mountain by the ski lodge.  T here's a killer  on the loose,  he's after us and he's already killed one of our friends.  We need help, over.”

Just then, the security light below flared to life again, startling me.

‘ _Something tripped the motion sensor.’_ I realized, before trying to reassure myself. _‘Probably a fucking deer.’_

Just then the ranger spoke again.

“I read you sir, please do not leave your position.” He said. “We will send out helicopters to get you as soon as the storm has subsided, over.” The ranger explained.

I bit my lip at that.  “ How long, exactly? ”  
  
The ranger hesitated before replying. “ Dawn, at the earliest. Not until dawn, over.”

Before I could say anything else, the hatch banged loudly, someone, or something was trying to enter.

“Jesus!” I cried out, stepping back.

It had to be him, the Psycho.

The banging then stopped and things seemed to calm down, until the tower rocked violently and began tipping.

I cried out, unsure what was going on, but soon lost my balance and fell as the tower began tipping. I groaned, managing to keep a hold of one of the support beams but then there was an ominous rumbling sound and with a mighty crash that led me to black out, the tower fell, plunging into an open cave that I recalled seeing earlier, a cave that claimed to lead into the mines under the mountain.  


_**Jamie** _

**02:43  
**

Back in the lodge, Ashley paced frantically in front of the stairs, clutching her flashlight tightly, while I stood to the side, edgy as hell. We had no idea where Kyle was, or Mike and Jess. We could only hope that Emily, Matt and Brian had found help, meanwhile we had come back to search for Sam. We had checked the ground floor while Chris checked upstairs, but to no avail, we were now waiting for Chris. We heard the rapid footsteps and looked up, nerves on a hair trigger. It was Chris, hurrying down the stairs, alone.

“She wasn’t up there?” I asked worriedly.

He shook his head. “I don’t know, I didn’t see her...She must have come down here.”

As he said that he gestured to the signs, balloons with arrows and, at least until they faded, damp bare footprints.

Ashley shook her head. “I haven’t seen her either.”

Chris bit his lip, also worried, using his own flashlight he led the way as we began to walk around towards the stairs leading to the basement, incidentally following the arrows on the balloons. Just then, the candle to Ashley’s left, on the table, suddenly lit by itself.

“Ahh!” She screamed. “Did that just happen?”  
  
Chris was seriously getting freaked out now. “Dammit, what is going on around here?!”

I had to admit, I wasn’t far behind, but was fighting to keep it together.

We were all the more desperate to find Sam now, so we continued onwards, as we made our way downstairs and, seeing the door was open, into the cinema room, I saw Ashley biting her lip.

“Chris...” She said suddenly.

“Sa-!” Chris began to call out, but stopped. “What?”

She shuffled her feet and shyly spoke. “Chris I just want to say, what happened back there in the shed...I know how hard that was, Josh was your friend...”

He turned to her, shaking his head. “Ashley stop.”  
  
Wincing at the massive bruise on his forehead, just above his left eye, she continued. “No, I want to say...I mean thank you-- thank you for saving my life--”

Chris shook his head. Ash, what was I gonna do? I...I couldn’t let anything happen to you, I couldn’t...”

They both stood awkwardly, aware of the various meanings implied by Chris’ words.

Finally, I broke the silence.

“Let’s just find Sam, okay?” I said firmly. “That’s what we’re doing now.”

Nodding Ashley followed Chris and I as they exited the cinema room, into the hallway, just as the door suddenly slammed shut behind them.

“What the heck!” Ashley whimpered in despair.

This was seriously doing a number on her nerves. It wasn’t doing any good for mine I could say that. Chris gently put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she exhaled softly, trying to relax. It only lasted until she tried to open the door to the guest room, it suddenly closed, nearly taking her hand with it.

“This is so eff-ed up!” Chris cried out.

I shook my head. “You’re not kidding, urgh, fuck.”

Ashley looked compelled to agree, all we wanted was to find Sam and get the hell out, but as we walked I could see she couldn’t help but wonder and worry about the others like I was.

“Wait a minute!” Ashley screamed, upon seeing the door to another hallway open by itself and seeing a ghostly figure at the end of it. “Did you see that?”  
  
“Uhh...” Chris replied, turning. “Did I see what?”

“That, Chris, that!” She cried out, gesturing.

“Ash, what are you talking about?” I asked, worried.

Chris shook his head. “What ‘that’ was that?”

Groaning she tried to explain. “It was like...a see through shape, like a ghost.”

“Oh boy.”

“I’m serious, why don’t you believe me!?” She insisted. “I said I saw it, doesn’t that count for anything?”

Ashley was frantic and Chris wanted to calm her down, this incident in particular was crazy and he didn’t want to say the wrong thing. I was in Chris’ corner here, but that didn’t mean I felt any better about things myself.

I watched as he tried to help her understand where he was coming from, without insulting her.

“We've been through Hell tonight. Okay? Your mind is fried. My mind is fried.” He explained; adding gently. “I don't even trust what I've been seeing.”

Ashley sighed, she had to admit Chris had a point, but still. “I don’t know, I don’t know...I just, I saw  _something_ Chris.”

He gently touched her arm. “Ash, it’s okay.  You're just... we're both... kind of out of our heads right now. I mean we just... we gotta pull it together, okay? You with me?”

She bowed her head and he said softly. “Let’s just, keep our heads.”

“Are we going crazy down here?” She whimpered.

Chris didn’t know, but he reasoned. “It’s the only place left Sam could be Ash.”

“Exactly.” I said; sending a pointed look at Chris not to interrupt. “I don’t what you saw Ash, but even if it was a ghost, we can’t let it stop us, okay?”

She agreed and we walked on a bit, before stopping again.

“I wish we could just go find everybody else and-”

“What if Sam needs help?” Chris asked. “What if she’s in trouble?”

“Oh God...”

I then realized. “Yeah, not only that, for all we know...Kyle could be down here too.”

Just then, the door to basement opened, by itself. Steeling ourselves, with Chris gently urging Ashley to follow, which she did, we made our way down together. Once down we were greeted by a loud nose, followed by a louder one and then, a cabinet to our right jerked as an item flew from the shelf, nearly hitting us.

Ashley and Chris both leapt back, startled  as I crouched, just as freaked out.

“WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!!” Chris yelled. “YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!”

Ashley backed away, freaked out more than ever. “What the HELL is going ON!!?”

She turned around to see a rocking horse, that was disturbingly mobile. She screamed, getting our attention.

She shook her head, holding up a hand to reassure us. “Oh my god, that scared me.”

“You knocked into it right?” Chris queried, before sounding worried. “You knocked into it?”

Ashley groaned. “I don’t...I don’t think so, I mean, I don’t know.”

She turned back to us; clearly upset, I couldn’t blame her. Chris certainly didn’t by the look of things.

“How did everything get so freaky around here? Doors slamming and candles lighting up out of nowhere and that specter or whatever it was--”

I shook my head, looking around worriedly as Chris tried to reason with her. “Ashley, I think you’re kind of ignoring what’s really happening here...”

Ashley gestured and replied, actually sounding irritated for once. “Don’t tell me you didn’t see that translucent white figure just passing right by us?”

“We, we could be seeing things-”

“I’m not imagining things!” She insisted.

Chris sighed and replied firmly; reminding her. “ Yeah, well I saw things too! I saw what happened to Josh in the shed! You know? And that's what I'm worried about!”

Ashley’s shoulder’s slumped, her anger evaporating.

I grimaced seeing the pain and terror in his eyes.

“Oh...Chris...” She whispered softly. “I know, I know.”

He just nodded and then explained. “ You know what I'm really worried about? Okay? I'm worried about Sam! What's happened to her?”

He paused before adding, uneasily. “If there’s some maniac out here, then, she could be dead too.”

“Don’t say that, please Chris.”

I shuddered. “I’m with Ash, we have to believe was can save Sam, and Kyle if he’s down here.”

He nodded and  we continued exploring the hallway for any clues.  The only thing  we saw however was a large dollhouse. Taking a closer look Ashley gasped.

“Look-look look look, Chris, Jamie, look!” She said, gesturing for us to come closer. “You can see in the windows.”

Chris shook his head, incredulous. “See what, tiny furniture?”

She rolled her eyes and replied. “No, it’s a whole scene, with dolls and everything.”

“Whoa...okay…?” I muttered; a little disturbed.

I wasn’t the only one; I saw Ashley’s expression. Something about what little she could see disturbed her, also seeing this, Chris thought it might be worthy taking a closer look. It could be another twisted clue left behind by the Psycho.

But then we hit a snag, the dollhouse had a hidden keyhole and was locked.

“Huh, I guess you need a key if you want to play around in there.” He muttered.

Ashley straightened up and looked to her right, down the end of the corridor and saw the translucent figure again.

She quickly pointed, growing frantic.

“Wait! Chris-Chris-Chris-Chris-Chris!! The ghost!!”

He spun around as did I. “What?!”  
  
She looked at him, incredulous. “Didn’t you see it?”

Sheepishly admitting he didn’t, Chris was revealed to be holding his phone.

Ashley glared. “ You were looking at your phone, you dip! What are you tweeting?! Hashtag there's a freaking ghost after us?!”

“Guys...” I interjected but was ignored.

Sighing Chris tried to calmly explain. “ Ash, calm down, okay. There is no ghost here. Ghost of what? You're freaked out because of what happened with Josh-”

“You’re not paying attention.” She hissed. “I saw it, I saw a ghost and it looked like Hannah, it looked like Hannah!”

“Wait, wait, wait...” Chris spluttered. “WHAT!?”

I sighed, face-palming.

Ashley sighed and admitted. “Or-or maybe Beth.”

“Jesus Ash...” Chris groaned. “What do you think, they followed us up here from the seance?”

Ashley shook her head, indignantly. “I don’t know, maybe!”

“They didn’t, because ghosts don’t exist, okay!?” Chris tried to reason with her.

Glaring she shot back. “Okay, who was talking to us at the seance, Chris?”

Chris admitted he didn’t know, just in time for a scream to rend the air and picture down the hall to fly off the wall.

We watched in stunned silence  before Ashley choked out.

“What did that?”

Chris was even more freaked than ever now. “How does a picture just jump off the wall like that?”

We walked carefully down the hall; the admonishment I planned for both of them completely forgotten. We reached the end and where the picture had been was a hook, on it was a key, a key that looked like it would fit the dollhouse lock. Smiling a little Ashley took it, looking back she saw the ghost again.

“Oh my GOD! There-look there, Chris you can't tell me you didn't see that!!” She cried out.

Only half her sentence was finished before Chris and I turned out, this time actually seeing the figure and gaping in shock.

“Wow, that’s...”

See, you do see it.”

“That’s...” He stammered. “I dunno, I-I just, this is fucking crazy...”

I shook my head. “That’s putting it mildly, what the fuck is…?”

I got the feeling Ashley couldn’t agree more, but we had to press on. We hurried down towards where the ghost had been, realizing it had disappeared near the dollhouse again.

“Chris, Jamie...” Ashley realized. “It’s showing us the way.”

We didn’t reply, so Ashley unlocked the dollhouse and opened the front and to our shock, we were confronted with a dollhouse scene, of that fateful night where we had played that cruel prank on Hannah.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is going on here?” Chris gasped.

“Oh God, it’s like...” Ashley whispered.

He shook his head however. “It’s not ‘like’ anything, that’s us. Hiding there, waiting for Hannah, last year.”

Ashley let out a strangled gasp; I guessed it was particularly at Chris saying the word ‘us’ when he himself hadn’t been involved.

It still freaked  us all out however. “But it’s so accurate,  I mean that's exactly where I was sitting...and that's where Matt was... ”

Chris noticed this too and shuddered, it certainly was freaky. Me, I was stunned into silence, except a few strangled gasps of air, that night was certainly the worst I had experienced up till now. Unbidden memories of Beth flooded my mind, especially those last moments I saw her, her anger, my shame.

After  Chris and Ashley  debating what could possibly be behind this setup, their suspicions ranging fro the ghost, to the Psycho,  we were treated to a doll’s head turning to the side and eyes opening, surprising  us .  We leapt back but recovered, just as the top of the dollhouse opened to reveal something inside. Picking it up Ashley realized right away what it was.

“It’s...it’s Hannah’s diary...”

Biting her lip she opened it and read through some pages, reaching the last entry, dated just the day before our last visit to the lodge the previous year.

“...everyone being together here...on the mountain...is gonna be so awesome...cozy fires and hot tubs...” She read aloud. “and OMG Mike...I am so psyched to spend some time with him..." I can't read this!! It's so sad, Chris...”

She put the diary back and then, suddenly, froze at the sound of a door creaking open. She and Chris shared a wary glance as I snapped out of my present state of mind.

“We...better push on, find Sam and Kyle.” I muttered.

They nodded and we approached the door at the end of the hallway, suddenly the ghost appeared, shrieking. Ashley and I cried out, jumping back, Chris ran forward, crossing the threshold of the door which slammed shut.

“Oh, Chris, Chris!” She cried out, hanging on the door.

I tried to help her. “Chris, answer us, man!”

It opened to our relief and Chris stood there, thankfully unhurt.

“Nothing.” He said, looking around warily.

Ashley inhaled sharply. “But you did see it, Chris, for real?”

Chris shrugged and admitted. “I saw...something, but, where’d it go?”

Ashley just shook her head, not particularly eager to find out. A sentiment I shared; my heart was pounding and this wasn’t doing anything good for my nerves. We entered the next room too and we continued our search for Sam and Kyle. While searching Ashley found something strange, a catalogue of sorts,, relatively recent.

“Hey, hey look at this.” She said quickly. “Doesn’t seem as old as some of the stuff down here.”

Chris and I looked at it too, him raising an eyebrow and commenting. “A catalogue...for industrial lightbulbs?”

“That is so random.”

She turned a page and we both noticed one of the bulbs was circled, a particularly powerful bulb. Putting it aside as Chris turned away, Ashley and I spotted a pair of scissors, she quickly picked them up and stowed them in her back pocket, I nodded, it was a good idea, just in case the Psycho appeared again.

It was while  we were searching that Ashley found a camera hidden between a pair of boxes.

“Uh...Chris, Jamie?”

We approached and stopped dead when we saw the camera.

Biting her lip, Ashley asked. “You think it’s the guy?”

“Well, that makes sense.”

Shaking her head Ashley muttered. “I don’t like being watched.”

Chris nonchalantly reached over and turned the camera around.

“Better?” He queried gently.

Ashley rolled her eyes and picked the camera up, talking directly into it. “Go suck an egg!”

She put the camera back in the position Chris had turned it to.

Looking up at us, grinning at her, she shrugged. “Now it’s better.”

Together we resumed our trek until suddenly the lodge shuddered and Ashley looked around, worriedly.

“Uhh, what was that, huh?”

Chris however had stopped dead, looking through a doorway ahead.

“Wait, there’s a whole ‘nother room through here.” He gasped. “It’s mammoth.”

Ashley groaned hearing that, it was like she wasn’t sure how much more she could take. As for myself, well, I wasn’t faring much better either.

However we followed him and soon we both stopped, gazing in wonder at the ruin of what seemed to be an old hotel, right underneath the Washington’s ski lodge.

Walking slowly onwards Ashley whispered.

“Where in the world are we now?”

“Are you kidding me?” Chris exclaimed as he too, took in their surroundings.

She turned to him. “Did you know this was here?”

He shook his head. “This?  Th is is like a whole ‘nother hotel, I had no idea this was here.”

“Great, just what we need...shit...” I muttered, taken aback.

Ashley shuddered, I couldn’t blame her. I was finding out more and experiencing more this night than I ever had in my whole life, and I really didn’t like it.

Turning to Chris Ashley revealed she felt the same. “I don’t think I can take any more of this.”

Chris nodded slowly. “Yeah, I’m about at my limit here too.”

“Me too.”

“All I wanted to do was forget last year ever happened...” She exclaimed.

“To be honest...” Chris said softly. “I’m not sure what Hannah thought she was doing.”

“Yeah well, you know how it is when you’re crushing pretty hard on somebody.” She said, with a rather knowing tone.

I bit my lip at that; again reminded of Beth and the feeling of overwhelming loss. I also noticed Ashley’s not so subtle hint at her feelings for Chris. Yet again he missed it.

Chris shook his head however. “ Great, so you're basically saying that we put a vulnerable friend in a terrible situation and essentially caused her to run away and never be heard of again?”

“If it was you, don’t you think you would have run away?” She asked desperately. “I mean, who likes being made fun of?”

Chris scoffed a little. “People don’t make fun of me.”  
  
“To your face.”

“What?” He gasped.

She shook her head; looking guilty all over again.

“Chris we made her look so stupid, in front of all of her friends and the guy she liked.” She explained. “I can't imagine doing anything worse to somebody.”

Chris nodded sadly, both of them lost in thought while exploring the hotel. I joined them, trying to clear my head; but Ashley’s words really put things in perspective for me. No wonder Beth was so angry, she had every right to be.

It was during this search Ashley found something that confused h er, as well as Chris and I , a bunch of newspapers, telling the story of the escaped convict, but the dates didn’t add up, the newspapers were in fact fakes, something which confused  all three of us .  Our exploration  then  led  us to reaching a staircase leading lower underground.

A shley however was pretty much done in. “You know what, no.”

“Ash-”

“No!” She replied, her voice rising. “I’ve had enough, I’m not going down any further into this nightmare Chris!”

He nodded sagely, he could understand her reluctance. “ Ashley... I understand, okay? I'm really freaked out too. But if Sam's down there all alone with a maniac... and we leave? We're basically killing her ourselves.”

“Not to mention Kyle guys, he’s been missing for so long...if’ he’s down there, they could both be...” I couldn’t finish; but they got my point.

Ashley bit her lip at that; I hoped she would realize that Chris was right, even if it didn’t make her feel better. Still, with a sigh I could see she had chosen to swallow down her fears.

“Goddamnit.” She muttered.

“Ashley, come on.” Chris coaxed gently.

“Why are you always right.”

“I’m not always right.” Chris corrected her absently.

She sighed. “Well, when you’re right, you’re right.”

Chris smiled gently to her and admitted. “I don’t want to be, I want to leave.”

“No, no.” She replied; putting on a brave face. “We gotta find Sam, let’s go.”

Nodding he began to descend the stairs, with Ashley and I following.

Thinking over everything  we found as  we walked,  I shook  my head.

“Chris, Ash, I’m gettin’ a really weird feeling from all this.”

They turned to face me. “What do you mean?”

I began to sum up  my thoughts. “ So we're saying that the same guy who made the newspapers also set up the camera, right?”

“Yeah... I think so...” Chris replied.

I shook my head. “It's just... it feels like he's constructing the whole story for us... then watching us run around, freaking out, seeing what we do, like it's... like it's some sort of fucking experiment!”

“Yikes that... that's kinda...” Chris gasped; shocked. “That actually makes a weird sort of sense...”

Ashley nodded in agreement, looking even more freaked out than ever. Still, we pressed on, searching the corridors and finding, strangely, sets of batteries and timers, which seemed to be connected in some weird way. Entering another room that closed them in, Ashley was the first to discover the source of the unpleasant odor.

“Oh no, you’ve got to be kidding me, repulsive!” She cried out; covering her mouth, almost throwing up.

Hanging from a hook was a gutted pig’s carcass.

“This, can’t be for eating.” Chris replied with a grimace.

“Why the hell is I here?”

Chris shook his head in disgust. “It’s like a goddamn grindhouse in here.”

I just shook my head, turning away, only to find more freaky things such as a series of hooks and chains attached to the wall and, in quite a spooky fashion, a photo arrangement, of all of us, the whole group. We were more than glad to get out of that room, until we saw the next door.

Our journey led  us to, of all things, a door, smeared with blood.

“Oh crap, look at that...”

“Blood?!” Ashley gasped, worried.

Chris nodded, sharing our worries. “Might be Sam’s...let me see if I can get this..”

He began trying to opening, managing to do so, but seemed strained.

“Ugh, got it, but...damn this thing is heavy.”

Ashley stepped closer. “Be careful!”  
  
“You gotta come through...Ash...” He told her. “I can’t hold it...ugh, come on...”

I quickly slipped through but then Ashley seemed to spot motion in her peripheral vision and then saw something to her right.

“Oh, Chris, Jamie!”  
  
“What?” He grunted.

“I think I just saw Sam over there.” She said quickly, pointing.

Chris shook his head. “Ash...Are you SURE?”  
  
She sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know, but come on, I think we should check it out.”  
  
“ Well I'm pretty sure whoever's bleeding came through here, okay? So we really got to get moving like now!”  Chris pointed out.

There was a pause, I began to panic, even if I helped Chris, we couldn't keep the door open.

“Okay, yeah, you’re right.” She said before moving closer. “I’m coming.”

With that we were able to slip through the door which slammed shut behind us. We recovered quickly and began searching again, until we came to a room with double doors.

Opening them we could see a figure, slumped in a chair.

“Oh Chris...Oh no...”

“Hello?” Chris called out, hesitantly.

Ashley also did the same. “Sam?”

“Sam…?” I also added my voice; while looking around, worried, still no sign of Kyle.

We approached the chair and Ashley turned it.

“Sam!!” She cried out, but then paused. “I don’t...I don’t get it.”

The figure in the chair wasn’t Sam, but a mannequin, wearing Sam’s clothes. I remained wary yet rather confused. Ashley and Chris were also both heavily confused and debating their discovery, both expressing extreme concern for Sam when suddenly Chris cried out.

“CHRIS!!” Ashley screamed as she saw the Psycho attack him, gassing him to sleep. “OH SHIT!!”

He then turned, on her and began approaching.

“AHHH, NO!” She screamed, fumbling in her back pocket. “GET BACK! Stay the hell away from me!”  
  
He raised the mouthpiece, ready to gas her in the same way. I had frozen in terror With a scream Ashley was able to pull out the scissors and stab them into his shoulder.

“Oh, no, no no...” He cried out in his distorted voice.

Ashley looked down at Chris, I finally felt myself unfreezing.

“Live and learn.”

“What?” She gasped, looking up.

The Psycho had recovered and with tremendous force, punched Ashley right in the face, nearly knocking her out.

“Live...” He growled venomously. “...And learn.”

I quickly reacted. “Don’t think so!”

With that I did my best to tackle him. But he just laughed, easily recovering.

“Big mistake.”

“What?” I gasped.

But then it happened, he shoved me back, I was helpless; I had just enough presence of mind to see Ashley struggling to her feet, clutching her eye.

“Ashley!” I cried. “Run!”

She hesitated for only a second but then did so. Just as I too was gasped to sleep and slipped into unconsciousness.

_**Ashley** _

**03:00  
**

I tensed, holding my breath as I pressed myself up against the wall; I had ran away as Jamie ordered me to, but now I was lost, hiding from the Psycho who still seemed to be looking for me.

‘ _Fuck this is...I can’t just leave this, oh please...’_ I thought desperately. _‘There must be something I can do, but what…?’_

Unable to figure anything else out; I remained hidden in the shadows until the Psycho left and I heard his footsteps fade away. Slipping out and looking around I risked turning my flashlight back on. I still didn’t know where I was. Determined to at least figure something out I choose a path and followed it. I had to find and rescue Chris and Jamie; if the others had been taken too, maybe they were also prisoner. At least, I hoped they were all held prisoner.

“AH, NO!” I cried out in shock.

At the same time a male voice burst out. “Whoa, what the fuck!?”  
  
I staggered back, thinking I had collided with the Psycho at that moment. But their reaction and voice made me realize that was wrong.

I almost cried in relief. “Mike...”

It was Mike, looking a little worse for wear. “Ashley, what the hell are you…?”

“There’s no time, there’s a...guy here, some crazy psychopath; he’s kidnapped Sam, and...Chris and Jamie, maybe Kyle too...” I bust out.

Mike tensed. “Jesus...He...he took Jess. I was sure he killed her, but if what you’re saying is true...”

“She might be alive, held captive too.” I finished for him, realizing.

“Ashley, are you with me, we’ve gotta find them and save them...and stop that fucker before it’s too late.” He asked.

I was scared as hell, but I nodded; and so together, we hurried onwards, determined to find and rescue the others.


	8. Chapter 7: Violence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aside from adding in new characters, this chapter is interesting as only two scenes from it come from the game itself, the rest are my own.

**Until Dawn: The Light of Day**

**Chapter 7: Violence**

**Four Hours Until Dawn  
**

_**Jamie** _

**03:09  
**

Waking up I didn’t open my eyes right away. I still remembered what had happened and remained tense, the attack, the Psycho, I began to fret.

‘ _Ashley, is she, did she get away, what happened to Chris, where am I, I…?’_ My mind raced but then stopped short.

I froze in horror, eyes opened wide as I began to realize my situation. Opening my eyes made it worse as I soon saw the full situation.

“MMMMMMM!” I screamed, putting the final nail in the coffin for my panic.

I had awoken to find myself seated on a wooden chair, my arms on the armrests, tightly bounds to them by ropes, more ropes circled my torso, pinning my body to the back of the chair, finally my legs were secured to the front chair legs with more ropes. A length of knotted cloth had been used to gag me, the knot pulled between my teeth and the cloth secured behind my head. My surroundings didn’t make things much better. The chair was in the middle of a rather bland room, only three things stood out about it, a small window high up on the wall opposite me, directly in front of me was the only door, obviously the way out. But a short distance from the door, was the thing that made my blood run cold.

It was a gun, set up on a small stand with a rope secured around it’s trigger and attached to the door handle.  It was pointing right at me, right at my heart.  Just the sight of it chilled me, I tugged at my bonds but they were solid, I groaned into my gag but then froze, eyes widening again when suddenly I heard it.  The voice of the Psycho, speaking out, to me, clearly through some sort of speaker system.

“Hello Jamie, I’m glad to see you’ve finally woken up.” He said mockingly. “I hope you like the little playroom I set up for you, I wonder if you can survive it, I wonder if any of you can survive these rooms.”  
  
I couldn’t help myself, I struggled and cried out. “MMMMMMMMM!!”  
  
There was a cruel laugh then Psycho spoke again. “It should be obvious but just to make sure you know. Your goal here is simple, you have to try and get out of this room, easier said that done since you can’t quite get off that chair. If only your friends would survive their own traps, maybe they could save you.”  
  
I froze hearing that, my breathing harsh and ragged through the gag.

“Oh but there’s a catch, if they try to save you...they could just kill you.” He continued. “You see, the rope is set so that when they try to open the door, it pulls the trigger. They open that door, you die...So how can they save you, how can you possibly save yourself...”  
  
“MMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!” I screamed in horror.

The full nightmare of my situation was now apparent, I had to get out of this, before one of the others came along and accidentally killed me. But how.

I had to admit, the powerlessness of my situation had a demoralizing effect, but I refused to let u p . I had to get out of here, I continued to struggle but the Psycho had been right, my bonds were very secure.  Frustrated I struggled more strongly than before, resulting in my discovery that the chair wasn’t fixed to the floor, I could move it.  Before I could implement this plan however I heard the footsteps and voices outside; it had to be the others, or at least two of them.

‘ _Gotta, warn them before they...’_ I panicked.

I struggled desperately, rocking the chair until suddenly it tipped, hitting the floor hard and splintering, I screamed through my gag and heard things go quiet outside.

“Mike, did you…?” I heard Ashley saying.

My heart leapt, Mike and Ashley at least were safe. But if they opened the door, the gun had been jolted by my fall and while no longer fatal it would still shoot me if they opened the door. Realizing I was able to move my arms now I quickly yanked the gag out my mouth.

“I did.” Mike was saying. “Came from this room here, c’mon Ashley...”  
  
I interrupted quickly. “No, guys, don’t!”  
  
“Jamie!” Ashley cried.

I heard her rush forwards. “Ashley no, DO NOT OPEN THAT DOOR!”

Silence fell and I waited, waited in an agony of suspense.

Finally Mike broke the silence.

“Jamie are you alright, what’s…?” He began.

I quickly explained. “It’s a trap, the doors attached to a gun, if you open it I’ll be shot.”

I heard some quiet conferring outside and then Ashley spoke again.

“God Jamie, that’s...how...how do we get you outta there?”

I moved, grimacing slightly. “I think I can get myself free, make it safe, hold on.”  
  
Taking advantage of being able to move my arms I quickly managed to untie myself from the remains of the chair, pulling off and throwing the gag aside. I hurried over and soon was able to detach the gun from the rope and set it aside.

“Okay guys, it’s safe.” I explained. “But I think the door’s locked, the trap was set so it would have to open from the outside.”

Mike replied. “Yeah, we figured, there’s a key in the lock here. Hold on.”  
  
I waited as I heard the sound of the lock and soon, the door opened and I hurried out, Mike and Ashley both stood waiting for me, both wide-eyed, Ashley now sporting a rather prominent black eye .

“My God Jamie, are you…?” Ashley began, grabbing my arm.

I nodded. “I’m fine now, guys, we gotta get the others, they’re here.”

Mike nodded. “We know Chris is here, and Sam most likely, Ashley told me...”  
  
“I think there’s more than that, I think, everybody else is here, caught...” I explained. “When I was being held in there, the Psycho taunted me, said he wondered if my friends were smart enough to rescue me, if they could escape their own traps. The others are trapped down here too.”

Silence followed my words.

Finally Ashley broke it.

“You could be right, but how do we...we might not have time to save everyone if we go together, but splitting up is...” She stammered. “Oh but...Josh isn’t here Jamie, he definitely isn’t, he’s dead.”  
  
I froze at that. “You...You’re sure…?”

Mike glared. “Jess is too, son of a bitch killed her...unless...”  
  
He suddenly paused as if realizing something.

“Mike?”  
  
“If he caught everyone else alive, why would he kill Jess, but...all that blood I saw...urgh...” Mike replied.

I could see he was trying to keep his hopes up, but at the same time, unable to forget what he had seen.

I took a deep breath. “Okay, we don’t have a choice, we have to split up...um...Only two ways to go...”

I was looking at the path to my right which split into two directions. The only other path was the one Mike and Ashley just came from. Quickly conferring we made up our minds and soon I went my separate ways from Mike and Ashley, taking the left path, while they took the right path. I had to admit, I was still lost, I had no idea where we were, but it looked like we were still in that abandoned hotel beneath the lodge, only now much deeper inside.

_**Kyle** _

**03:16  
**

When I finally came too, the only thing I was aware of was pain. My head throbbed like my brain was crawling out of my skull, and my chest felt like it'd been punched by Donkey Kong on highly potent steroids.

I groaned and swallowed the lump in my throat. I opened my eyes slowly. After a brief moment of blurry vision, I noticed that I was in a small room. After the ringing in my ears subsided, I could hear the faint sound of crying.

"Sam?" I called out anxiously.

The immediate response was a sniffle followed by a shrill, "Kyle?"

Relief flooded through my veins like a steady stream. I could survive whatever hell this is as long as Sam is okay. Stupidly, I tried to shoot up from the steel folding chair I was sitting in and immediately felt dizzy. Apparently, I was bolted to the floor.

"Sam? Are you there?"

"Yeah!"

Her voice seemed close. She must have been just beyond this wall. On pure adrenaline, I tried to shoulder struggle out of the chair but that decision only resulted in pain flaring through my muscles.

"It's useless," Sam called out. "I haven't been able to find a way out. Nothing has worked."

A flare of anxiety flushed throughout my chest. I tried to ignore it. "We'll find a way out. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Kyle."

I hated how defeated she sounded. "There's always a way out, Sam."

The hopeless feeling in the air irritated me. I wanted to distract her from the situation. Make her feel better somehow.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." A beat later she continued. "What about you?"

"A little shaken. Thirsty. But not hurt."

"Good. Kyle?"

"Yeah?" I leaned into the chair desperately. Sam had never been someone to be overly affectionate. Usually cautious. If there was ever a time for her to tell me how she really felt, it's now.

"If we don't make it out of here..."

I leaned in towards the wall to hear her better. She hesitated, but I was dying to know what she was thinking.

I could hear Sam sigh. "Never mind. I have some weird grided tablet. I can't make any sense of it."

I frowned. She was right, it didn't make any sense. I raise my head disdainfully to the wall in front of me.

I realized then that there was a strange design on the wall. It featured a 4×4 grid of 16 squares. Some of them the same color, some with a different design, some with no design. But it made some sort of strange pattern.

"What the hell?" I muttered to myself.

As I contemplated the strange pattern, I could hear a crackling sound above me. It sounded almost like discombobulated static.

Then, a garbled voice interrupted the static. A deep voice reverberated around the room.

"I'm glad you finally woke up, Kyle. Now the game can begin!"

"What are you talking about?"

"It's time to test the strength of your relationship! Sam, underneath the rock next to the door, there is a key. You can use this key to escape yourself, or you can stay and help Kyle solve the puzzle. If you solve the puzzle, you're free to go. If you don't..."

"What's stopping me from using the key to save Kyle jackass!" Sam retorted with venom.

"This," the voice replied evilly.

I could hear the sound of a gear turning. I looked up and audibly gulped. Above me, a huge press lowered tortuously slowly. If it continued its pace, I would easily be crushed to death.

I struggled with a blind panic to free myself, but it was hopeless to break free of my bonds.

I was already tired. But now this was exhausting me.

Suddenly the press stopped. Sure it only lowered a few inches, but it was much closer to my head.

"If you solve my puzzle," the voice drawled menacingly, "then the press will stop completely and Sam can free you. But if you use the key too soon, or don't solve it in time...especially when your friends are also in trouble"

The press reactivated then. It begun once again to descend.

"How are we supposed to solve this?" cried Sam desperately. "I can't save you with a tablet."

"There's some sort of solution over here!" I called.

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah! Is there different colors on that tablet?"

"Yeah. And weird symbols."

"I think we need to match the symbols and colors. Maybe we can solve it?"

"God I hope so."

We went to work then. The slow grinding of the gears in the press magnifying our anxiety. As we worked, I attempted to struggle out of my bonds. I only succeeded in making myself more exhausted. There was only going to be one way out. Either Sam and I solves this and she saves me... Or...

"That last one should he the black omega symbol on the pink corner square."

"Okay. Got it!"

I looked up at the press above me. It didn't stop. Instead, it seemed to be moving even faster. Ice filled my veins.

"It's not working, Sam!"

"What do you mean it's not working? I did exactly as you said!"

As I stared at the metal press starting to bear down on me. I started to see my reflection. My eyes were bloodshot and tired, and I looked scared shitless.

But it made me realize something. My reflection. What if...?

"I think it's mirrored, Sam!"

"Mirrored? Are you sure?"

"It has to be. Flip everything around. And hurry! I don't have a lot of time."

I couldn't see Sam. I could only close my eyes and hope that she was smart enough to figure it out.

And then, the gears stopped. I opened my eyes in disbelief. I could hear the door to my right being opened. All I could see is Sam, like an angel, rushing towards me to undo my bonds. Once I was free, I wordlessly grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her into a tight embrace.

There were so many things I wanted to say at that moment, but none of them sounded right. I just wanted to hold onto her and never let go. Although I was overwhelmed by emotions, at that moment all I could do was be happy to be alive. Happy to see Sam again.

"I thought I was going to lose you," I heard her mumble into my chest.

I separated from her gently. "But you did it."

"I guess I did," she smiled lightly.

It was then, after the adrenaline had died that I noticed that she was only wearing a towel wrapped tightly around her body, starting just below her armpits and going down to the middle of her thighs.

"Uhhh, why aren't you wearing clothes?"

Sam looked down at herself. It seemed she also forgot her predicament. "It's kind of a long story. Let's just get out of here."

"Okay," I replied. I was a little embarrassed, but now wasn't the time for that. On the opposite end of the room was a door that would hopefully provide us an exit. By some dumb luck, the doorknob held a bag. I searched through the contents. Inside I found some clothes and a flashlight.

"Seems a little convenient?" I said to no one in particular.

"As this rate, I'm just happy to have clothes," Sam pointed out.

I just shrugged and handed her the bag. We used the key to leave that godforsaken room. The atmosphere between Sam and I was thick. Neither of us wanted to discuss the last few moments, but I knew we were happy to just be near each other.

The room we had entered was dark. Thank goodness we had the flashlight. Upon examination, we could see some bookshelves lining the walls.

"Let me stand behind one of these and get changed."

"Sure thing," I nodded.

I gave Sam the flashlight so she could see and I turned my body away Sam and wandered over to the opposite end of the room. Truth be told, I was just happy to stretch my legs after all that stress.

"Alright," Sam sighed.

I turned back around and caught the flashlight Sam tossed back to me. She wore a tight black long sleeved t shirt, dark gray yoga pants and dark sneakers, as well as a dark red sports jacket. She had redone her hair into a ponytail with a lock of hair fitting the angle on the left side of her face, which she tried to roughly push behind her ear.

Even in a terrified, fatigued state she was still beautiful. I wanted to tell her that, but now it didn't seem to be the time. Instead I settled on, "Better than a towel, right?"

She smirked at that.

"Not that I, uh, minded you in just the towel," I corrected.

Sam just smiled and shook her head. "Sometimes, Kyle, you should just stop talking."

"Right," I said while scratching the back of my head.

From there Sam and I trudged through the hallway until we came across a corridor. It was long and dilapidated, and gave me the willies. I looked over at Sam and she seemed to have the same thoughts.

Forcing a smile, she gestured with a hand towards the corridor. "If you say, "Ladies first..." I will hit you."

"Noted," I nodded as we both chuckled.

And then, there was nowhere else to go but forward.

_**Brian** _

**03:22  
**

I woke up, not opening my eyes for now. I still remembered that crazy freak as he attacked us. If he was still around, I didn’t want him to know I was awake yet.

"Dude?"

I froze hearing that voice, I recognized it.

I spoke quietly. "Chris?"

“Yeah, thank God, um, we got a problem.” Chris replied.

I was about to ask what, but then I opened my eyes and soon saw the issue. I soon noticed bits of our situation. We were currently bound together, in chairs, ropes securing our bodies to the chairs.

“What is this, how do we…?” I burst out.

Chris shook his head. “I don’t know, but...”

Before he could continued we were nearly blinded as lights turned on in the room.

It was then a distorted voice soon came over a loud speaker.

"Greetings, gentleman. I’ve got a game for us to play. I’ve set up a number of interesting...traps beneath the lodge, this is one of them.” It said darkly “I wonder, can you can find your way out of this, and find your friends. I've got them too you know, in traps of their own."

"You fucker!." Chris burst out.

But then I saw something and replied to stop him struggling. "Chris, easy."

He looked and then noticed, we were on a platform, above a pool of water, a pool that looked wrong, there was a strange noise nearby and it was almost as if something was lighting the water up.

It was soon explained by the voice as it spoke again."Oh, and if you fall into that water...Zap.”

He laughed darkly as I narrowed my eyes.

"Zap?"

Chris however realized and revealed. "It's electrified, man."

I froze, suddenly this just got bad.

"How can this get any worse?"

Chris glared over his shoulder at me. "Dude, seriously?"

I shrugged. "Had to."

"Ugh."

I shook my head. "C'mon, we've gotta find a way out of here."

Easier said than done however.

But we persevered. We began to work, struggling desperately against the ropes, all the while trying desperately not to tip the chairs or do anything that could result in us falling into the electrified water. Suddenly it happened, we began to feel the ropes on our arms beginning to give.

I grimaced. "Almost there."

"Yeah."

Finally, we got our arms free and quickly got to work getting the ropes off of us. But as I stood up, something happened and Chris's chair soon tipped towards the water. He cried out but I grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Easy, gotcha."

I let out a sigh of relief, glad I managed to catch him before he fell.

"Thanks." Chris replied, smiling.

I nodded. "No problem, what now?"

“We get outta here.” Chris explained.

He nodded and, glad the gap wasn’t too daunting, we soon leapt over to dry land and towards the door which was surprisingly unlocked. Once we got out we were in a strange dilapidated corridor of sorts.

“Now what?” I wondered aloud.

Chris looked around. "Not sure. Looks like we've got two paths here."

"Yeah, which way do we go?" I asked.

We stood quietly, pondering what to do for a moment.

Finally Chris spoke. "Hmm. I'll go this way."

"Hang on, you think we should go that way?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Well then, I'm going this way." I replied.

"Dude!." Chris protested.

"Fuck you, and the horse you rode in on." I shot back.

“What?”  
  
I shook my head. “I know it seems crazy, but for all we know, the others could be both ways and we’re wasting time. If we go one way and not the other, anyone down there could...”

I couldn’t finish but Chris groaned and nodded, indicating he understood. So we soon turned and went our separate ways, keeping our eyes open for anyone else.

_**Jess** _

**03:30  
**

I let out a low moan as I tried to tug at my bonds, but it was no good. I looked around fearfully.

‘ _Where am I, what is this, place...where’s, Mike and, what about everybody else?’_ The thought raced through my head again and again.

It was a rather dire situation I found myself in. I was still stuck in just my underwear from that disastrous incident at the cabin. But the situation I found myself in was far  worse than the icy atmosphere at the cabin after I had argued with Mike . I was chained up by my arms to some sort of metal board. My arms were pulled above my head, leaving me hanging by my wrists. More chains encircled my ankles, anchoring them to the board.  A length of knotted cloth had been used to gag me, the knot pulled between my teeth and the cloth secured behind my head.  The truly horrifying thing about this room was the track on the floor, leading right to me. At the other end of it was a cart and on said cart was set up a horrible looking circular saw. It’s edged gleaming in the faint light.

“Mmmm...” I whimpered.

The truly scary part, the saw was level with my waist, if it started spinning and moved towards me, it would cut me right in two.  I couldn’t see much else of the room however, due to the low lighting.

Just then I heard the sound of a door opening, very close by. I reacted at once, praying it wasn’t the freak that kidnapped me.

“MMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMM!! I screamed.

Then I heard a voice I wasn’t expecting. “Jess!?”  
  
I froze at first. _‘Jamie?’_

But then, at that moment, there was a flash of light and I was nearly blinded.

“Holy shit!” I heard Jamie mutter.

“MMMMM!?”  
  
I then saw him, standing there, looking rather pale and terrified and no wonder. Not only could he see my predicament but the rest of the room was now visible. There was a cage like fence blocking Jamie from reaching me. An obviously locked gate being the only way in. In front of Jamie were five levers. We locked eyes, both of us clearly terrified, then the terror got worse as a distorted voice began to speak.

“Hello and welcome, subjects...” It said darkly, Jamie tensed, as if straining to hear. “Here we have one of my little games. I wonder if you’ll survive them. If you’re hearing this then obviously at least one of you survived my traps, now you have to see...if you can save Jessica.”  
  
“MMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!”

Jamie shook his head. “Jess, please...I need, I need to hear.”  
  
I stared at him in disbelief but remained quiet.

The voice continued.

As it did I realized what Jamie meant at last. “Now this is your chance...before you are five levers, you can only turn one of them...One unlocks the door...the other four...”

As he said that the saw suddenly turned on and began to spin rapidly.

“The other four will sent the cart towards Jessica, I need not explain how that will end, I’m sure.” The voice continued with a dark chuckle. “Choose...wisely.”

The saw reached full speed and the full horribly clarity of the situation dawned on me. I panicked and struggled as Jamie looked frantic.  
  
“Oh shit, oh shit...gotta, gotta…” He muttered.

He looked over the levers, as if trying to figure out which was the right one. Tears stung my eyes as I began to grow very afraid. Then suddenly I saw it; now I knew why that bastard had gagged me. On my side of the fence, I could see the wires from the levers, I could see which one headed for the door.

“MMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMM!!” I screamed, trying to get Jamie’s attention.

He shook his head. “Jess, I don’t...maybe...”  
  
He reached out towards one of the levers, the wrong lever.

“MMM!” I shook my head as I screamed.

Luckily he saw it and immediately realized what I was trying to do. He nodded, indicating he understood and moved his hand towards another lever, I shook my head. He moved his hand to the next one and I nodded, he pulled it and the door immediately unlocked and burst out.

“You have chosen...wisely...” Came the voice again.

Jamie rushed in and immediately pulled the gag from my mouth.

“God Jess are you…?”  
  
I blushed. “Just please get me down from here.”

I had just remembered that I was only in my underwear, now that the immediate danger had passed, the humiliation returned.

Luckily Jamie made no comment and soon had me down from the trap.

“Oh God that was...” I burst out before I couldn’t help it. “Jamie, thank you!”  
  
I hugged him tightly but let go when I realized how awkward he must feel. He just nodded.

“Um sure...It’s just lucky you were able to tell me the right lever.” He replied. “C’mon, we gotta get back to the others.”

That instantly filled me with hope, they were okay. Unfortunately before we could go very far there was a sudden tremor and then an ominous cracking noise.

“Jamie...”

He shook his head. “Jess, it...”

But then it was too late, suddenly there was a loud crack and the ground collapsed. I screamed but was soon silenced as I hit something and blacked out.

_**Sam** _

**03:34  
**

I bit my lip as I looked around, holding on tight to Kyle’s hand.

“You sure we’re heading the right way?” I asked nervously.

"To be honest, Sam, I don't know," Kyle answered, unsure.  
  
We froze as we heard footsteps, multiple footsteps. We were in what looked like a central room, with different corridors leading off it. From two of them we could hear the footsteps approaching.

Kyle stepped in front of me and positioned his body to shield mine. I could tell he was trying to be brave for the both of us.

I wasn’t sure what to say or do, but luckily it soon became a non-issue for the source of the footsteps emerged and we all gasped.

“Sam, Kyle!”

“You guys, you’re all...” I burst out.

"Thank God you guys are all right," Kyle joined in.

It was Mike, Ashley and Chris, they hurried up to us and to my relief, didn’t begin with any awkward questions about my change of clothes.

“Is this...where are the others?” Mike asked.

“Others?” I echoed before remembering what Kyle and I heard in that trap, about our friends also being trapped.

Kyle grabbed my hand and squeezed almost to reassure me. I felt myself relax ever so slightly.

Mike nodded as Ashley explained. “We met Jamie, got him out of some trap, then we split up to find everybody else...but he’s not here, did he even, find someone, what happened to him.”  
Looking over at Ashley; biting his lip awkwardly, Chris spoke. “Brian as with me; we split up to; just ended up the same way it seems.”

We all shared a worried look then. Then Ashley screamed and we all spun around.

“Impressive, very impressive.” The Psycho laughed as he stepped out the shadows towards us.

We quickly all moved close together, trying to defend each other.

"Who the hell are you?!?" Kyle demanded.

“You really don’t get it, do you...”

It was then the Psycho removed his terror clown mask, revealing to all of us that he was none other, than a very alive, Joshua Washington.

Chris was the first to recover.

“...Josh?” He spluttered; unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

Josh burst out laughing as I yelled his name, anger seething through me. Mike and Kyle also voiced Josh’s name, sounded just as shocked as Chris.

“Oh, oh very good.” He said, sounding overly cheerful. “Every one of you! Got my name! And after all you've been through! Good, good-good-good. I mean how does that feel?”

During this time, we moved apart slightly, still shaken from our ordeals and now faced with a horrific truth, that Josh had done _all_ this to us.

“Right? How does it feel? Do you enjoy feeling terrorized? Humiliated? I mean, panicked?” He queried, actually sounding a little crazed. “All those emotions that my sisters got to feel once one year ago! Only guess what? They didn't get to laugh it off! No! Nope! No, no, no! They're gone!”

By the end he was laughing again, actually sounding completely unhinged. It was a veritable maelstrom of emotions for us all I was sure. I felt as if I had been violated all over again, everything I endured at the hands of the Psycho, seeing me in the bath, chasing me as I had only a towel on, all of it was Josh. Ashley looked like she was in too much shock to really think or say anything while Chris looked hurt, betrayed by his best friend. I found Kyle’s hand again and squeezed it; I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but he returned my gesture, something which helped me feel better despite the violation I still felt.

Mike meanwhile replied angrily.

“I don't know if you noticed this, Josh, but none of us are laughing.”

Josh raised his arms and spoke. “ Oh come, come-come-come-come. Why the long faces? Come on!”

He began to make expressive gestures while revealing his role in everything.

“It's good to get the heart racing every now and then, right? And race they did, I mean, every one of you, just pitter-pat, pitter-pat! I hope you appreciated my little phantasmagorical spectacle! I mean, no detail too small! No opportunity missed!” Josh continued; remembering how he had created the ghosts. “It was such a delight to play the puppet master to all of your Pavlovian panic!”

I then began to realize something, if this was Josh and everything was happening the way he said it was, something now felt very off with those traps. Recalling the room Kyle and I had been stuck in, I realized that there were grooves in the walls, grooves that did _not_ reach all the way to the floor and the most disturbance caused by the descending ceiling was in the grooves, but could it had been. I looked at Kyle, he was clearly thinking the same thing.

“And all that gore? I mean, gore, there was gore galore!!!” He continued to brag. “Fake bodies... I mean, God that shit was expensive! And no retakes! Nope, nope, nope, only double takes! You should have seen your faces. Hook, line and sinker, for every little stinker!” Josh cried out before confessing. “You guys honestly bought all those traps...”

He was clearly enjoying himself, feeling as if he had triumphed.

I shook  my head, recalling everything  I had seen.

“Josh, your fingerprints were all over this.” I replied. “It was obviously all you.”

“Oh really? Really, really, really?” He taunted.

I then elaborated on what she meant. “ You're crying out for help, Josh... Come on, you wanted to get caught, didn't you?”

“Oh sure. I'm totally just crying out for help. ‘Help me! Oh help me! Help, help.’” Josh taunted. “Come on!! Come on! It was just for fun! I mean, so you got a little bit of egg on your face, right? Nobody got hurt. The gun in Jamie’s trap, loaded with blanks, that ceiling would never have crushed you guys, Chris, the water wasn’t even electrified, just looked like it. As for Jess...”

It was clear for Mike, that was the last straw.

He snapped. “What are you talking about you ass hat? Jessica is FUCKING DEAD.”

“What?” Josh gasped, suddenly deflating. “No she...”

We all looked at Mike in horror as he moved towards Josh, reaching into his waistband to pull out a revolver.

“Did you hear me!? Jessica is dead...” Mike growled. “And YOU ARE GONNA FUCKING PAY YOU DICK!!!!”

As he uttered the last word, Mike slammed the butt of the revolver into Josh’s head, knocking him out cold.

After Josh's body slumped to the ground unconscious, Kyle cleared his throat. "That could've gone a lot better."

_**Emily** _

**03:40  
**

I shuddered violently, before desperately trying to still myself. The last thing I wanted was to aggravate my situation. I couldn’t remember how much time had passed between that masked freak attacking me, Brian and Matt to me waking up. But when I did, it was to find myself lying on some sort of wooden platform in a dingy room. The platform, I was told, was above a massive drop into the mines below, which made my current situation even worse.

Desperate I called out, to no avail. “MMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMM!!”

I was still gagged, as I had been when I woke up, tied up too. My hands were behind my back, tied at the wrists with ropes, more ropes circled my ankles and thighs, binding my legs together. Finally, the gag, a length of knotted cloth had been used to gag me, the knot pulled between my teeth and the cloth secured behind my head. When I woke up I had been lying on the platform. That freak standing over me, he laughed and despite my struggles forced me into my current situation.

‘ _Fuck, control yourself Em, that won’t help...’_ I told myself angrily as tears stung my eyes.

But I couldn’t help it, I was so afraid, so sure I was going to die. The reason, I had been moved, still bound and gagged, to stand on a trapdoor, with a noose secured around my neck. All that needed to happen was for the trapdoor to open, and I’d be hanged.

Looking around frantically I could see only a cage like fence dividing the room, preventing anyone from getting to me to aid me. There was a gate in the fence, but it was obviously locked. Not only that, but on the other side of the fence I could see two levers.

“MMMMMMMMMM!” I moaned as I tried to get my hands free to no avail.

It was then I heard it and tensed, the door was opening. The suddenly, a familiar shout.

“Emily!!?”  
  
“MMMMMM!!” I shrieked.

It was Brian. He rushed forwards and tried, futilely to open the gate. He grimaced and stepped back, his eyes fell on the levers and then me, I could see the panic in his eyes and no wonder, he could see me here, set up to be hanged and now it looked like he would be forced to watch. But of course it just had to be worse than that.

“Hello there, my subjects.” A dark distorted voice remarked. “I’m glad to have more chances to play, yet another wonderful trap...I wonder if you can help dear Emily escape this one.”  
  
Brian grimaced. “Another fucking trap of course, gotta, gotta do something...”  
  
I was naturally panicking. “MMMMMM MMMMMMMMMM!!”

But then the voice revealed the true horror.

With a dark laugh he then spoke.

“But there’s a twist, you see...In front of you, my friend, you will see two levers, you can only pull one of them. One will open that gate and allow you to save Emily. But if you pull the wrong one, you open the trapdoor and she will hang before your eyes...” He revealed. “Choose well.”

Almost at once I began to freak out; screaming into my gag, until Brian spoke.

“Emily, Emily, hold on, I...I will get this, I know it.” He hissed.

I was about to make some cutting remark through my gag when I saw it. There were wires on this side of the fence, connected to the levers, one coming towards the platform, the other two the gate.

‘ _That’s gotta be, of course...he needs to pull the lever on his right...but how do I...’_ I thought frantically before simply doing the first thing which came to mind. “MMMMMM!!”

He looked up as I screamed his name; I began gesturing with my head, to my left. He watched me for a moment, confused, but then his eyes widened.

“Are you sure?” He asked, hand going onto the lever.

I nodded and he pulled it. I waited for the horrible moment when the trapdoor opened. But it didn’t, the gate opened instead. I let out a muffled sigh of relief as Brian immediately hurried through.

“Just hold on.” He said as reassuringly as he could.

He immediately got to work, trying to free me.

I coughed as the gag and noose came off, relieved to be free of them. Getting me off the trapdoor Brian soon untied me.

“Thank God you got me out of there.” I said quickly. “He said others, are they…?”

Brian shook his head. “I know Chris and I are alive, not sure about anyone else. We better try and find them.”  
  
I nodded but had barely taken a step with, with an ominous creaking noise, the wooden walkway splintered and broke, with a scream I fell, Brian fell with me but I soon lost sight of him. I lost sight of everything in fact as I blacked out.

_**Chris** _

**03:47  
**

I sighed as I walked along with Mike, we were escorting, roughly escorting, a bound Josh to the shed. It had taken us quite a while to secure him and then find our way back out of the underground hotel to reach the main lodge. Sam, Kyle and Ashley remained in the main room of the lodge, all doing their best to try and calm down and recover from their near death experiences, even if the traps hadn’t been designed to kill. Josh had woken up midway through our attempt to leave the hotel and just made things harder.

“Guys!” He yelled as Mike shoved him forwards. “Guys, come on...seriously, this is crazy, you know?”

“Shut up.” Mike replied, clearly fed up.

I glowered however, my mind flashing back to seeing Ashley’s face in that room, the horrible bruising around her left eye. The Psycho had done it, now I knew the Psycho was Josh. That was what infuriated me the most, Josh, my best friend, had hit Ashley, the girl I loved.

“Why did ya hit her man!?” I burst out, unable to contain my rage anymore. “Why’d you have to fucking hit her!?”

With that I lost it and slugged Josh straight in the face. Josh crumpled to the ground and for once, Mike was having to hold me back from inflicting further violence.

“What are you talking about?” Josh groaned as he managed to get into a sitting position, despite his bound hands.

I snarled. “You punched Ashley you piece of shit!”

Josh looked down at his shoulder, where Ashley revealed she had stabbed him with the scissors. “I got so mad...”

“You don’t hit a girl, you just...don’t.” I snapped.

Josh looked up at me, I just glared, too angry to care.

He shook his head.

“Dude...dude, Chris, bro...I”

I cut him off sharply as Mike stepped forwards. “I’m not your bro!”

Mike forced Josh to his feet and forced him along the path again.

“Where are we going, where are you guys taking me?” Josh demanded; still startled.

Mike glared at him and spoke darkly. “Locking you up, bro.”

“What?!”

“So you can’t say or do anything stupid before we call the police in the morning.” Mike explained.  
  
“Come ON!” Josh complained bitterly. “I didn’t DO ANYTHING-”  
  
I shook my head; seriously getting tired of this. “Are you serious, _bro_?”

Mike didn’t want to hear it either. “You’re a goddamned murderer is what you are.”

“I didn’t do it.” Josh snapped before pleading. “Michael please, just listen to me man! I did not kill Jessica-”

I rolled my eyes. “Are you insane, like really? Do you not understand what you’ve done?”

“I’m a healer man, I bring people together, not like you assholes.” Josh growled in response.

Rolling his eyes, Mike forced Josh onwards. “That’s enough.”

They began to approach the shed, the same shed Josh had set up his first saw trap trick.

Josh continued to struggle and yell at them, while also protesting.

“You only see what you wanna see!” He burst out suddenly. “You’re blind!”

“Stop talking.” Mike replied blandly, seriously getting tired.

“You are – argh!” Josh’s words were cut short by Mike forcing him to the ground, hurting his injured shoulder.

I stopped, a little startled by Mike’s sudden action.

“It’s not my fault you suckers can’t take a joke.” Josh exclaimed.

Mike glared at him. “ Oh, oh wait, did I hurt you? Did you just feel a little... a little bit of pain? Right now I am SO... SO... SORRY.”

As he raised his voice he put more pressure on Josh’s shoulder, making him scream.

“Stop it!”  
  
“Jesus, dude.” I gasped.

I had punched Josh, but I never intended to go this far.

“Stop...Michael, I’m sorry, man...Look, you don’t get it, why would I spare all of you guys and kill Jess!” Josh yelled through the pain. “I swear, I swear to you that I have no idea what happened to her. If she is dead, it wasn’t me!!”

I noted that Josh seemed to be relapsing between his usual self and a crazed version of himself, the result of not taking his meds. However my anger overrode his pity.

“Josh, be honest with me, do you really expect us to trust you, for a single goddamned second, after all the shit you put us through?”

There was a pause, while Josh grimaced as Mike forced him back to his feet.

Josh grinned, slipping into crazy mode again.  
  
“Can’t we all just get along?” He joked before Mike shoved him hard. “OW! DAMMIT!”

Mike made him walk, holding him at gunpoint. “We’re not dicking around.”

With that he forced Josh into the shed, all the while he was ranting.

“It's not right... nope... this is not how it's supposed to go down... You're just a bunch of bullies... You can't hang out a guy just to dry like this, guys-- Not like... Not like you got the guts to really do anything about it anyways!”

“You really, really, really need to shut up, man.” I shot back.

I was still startled by Josh’s behavior; I had seen some of Josh’s mental breaks at times, but never anything this bad. How long had it been since Josh stopped taking his medication.

Josh glared as Mike forced him deeper into the shed. “ Oh... that's... that's... I mean, I don't even know what you mean because I don't have anything to regret.”

I rolled my eyes while Mike forced Josh onto a stood near a pole and we began trying to untie his hands then retie them to the pole.

“Okay, tying me up now, okay.” Josh remarked sarcastically.

“Stay still man-” Mike growled.

“Right, right, right, right...still...” Josh replied before slipping into a mocking tone while wriggling. “Can’t tie ‘em up if they just wiggle around.”

I let out an exasperated sigh. “Josh, dude-”

“Leave me a little wiggle room, huh?”

Mike glowered and pulled hard on the ties.

As he did so he snarled directly in Josh’s face.

“What does it take to shut you up?”  
  
“Ow!” Josh glared at him as we both stood and stepped back. “Not so tight okay? Not so tight, okay! I can't wiggle around. Plastic ties. That's where it's at. Yeah.”

“What...in god’s name is he talking about?” Mike wondered aloud.

It became clear that Josh had slipped even further and was now talking to himself.

“Plastic ties, plastic ties. Way more effective for hostage type scenarios.”

“This is hard to watch...” I admitted.

Mikenodded. “He ever say this kind of shit before?”

Josh meanwhile was still rambling. “ Guaranteed for at least three hostages, or your money back!”

I sighed and again admitted the truth. “No, I never seen him like  _this_ ...”

“Everybody is stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid...” Josh mumbled, before becoming coherent again and grinning wickedly. “Chris and Ash, Chris is an ass, Ashley's a dumb dumb...”

Hearing that, I rounded on him. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

Josh giggled and replied. “I said you’re a dummy, dummy.”

Exasperated again I shook his head. “What’s wrong with you?”

Josh began mocking me then. “Ohh...Ashley...I never imagined in my wildest dreams that you’d like me…!”  
  
I shook my head, I wasn’t about to let Josh play this game. “Stop...”

“You know what that sound is?” Josh asked in a high pitched tone, before becoming aggressive. “It’s the sound of never kissing Ashley, you pussy.”

“Stop!” I demanded; this was going too far.

But Josh simply kept on pushing buttons.

He looked from  me to Mike, leeringly, his thoughts obvious as he spoke.

“Yeah, you know? You might as well let Ashley sleep with Mike, I mean, at least he's got some notches on his belt, you know?” He emphasized the next four words with vulgar pelvic thrusts. “He'll treat her right! You're fucking pathetic, Christopher.”

That was the breaking point for me; I grabbed a nearby wooden board, raising it.

“I’m gonna beat his head off-” I growled.

Mike held me back however, once again surprising me. “Don’t listen to him, not worth it.”

But it was then Josh decided it would be a good idea to antagonize Mike instead.

“Hey Mike.” He began sniggering as he repeated Mike’s name several times.

“What?” Mike replied at last, clearly angry.

Josh looked somewhere between crazed and serious. “What happened with Jess, Mike?”

Mike narrowed his eyes at that. “You know what happened.”

No... No... I don't... I got a problem, Mike...”  Josh replied. “I don't remember killing Jess...”

Mike rolled his eyes, muttering as he turned away,

I mean, like, I feel like I would remember killing her, you know?”  He explained before leering again and adopting a suggestive tone. “She's so soft... and she's probably got like a really tight bod…”

“Shut your fucking mouth!” Mike snapped, aiming at Josh with the gun.

I was startled, but didn’t do anything,  I trusted Mike, Mike wouldn’t shoot Josh, surely not.

I was proven right when Mike did not actually fire.

“Ugh...” Josh groaned before yelling. “You guys are the worst!”

“What?”

He shook his head. “Oh  come ON! You expect me to believe you're gonna shoot me? Just little old me? Just little old me tied up here and helpless?”

Mike sighed and shook his head, turning back to me.

“Why don't you go back to the lodge and make sure everyone's alright.” He said. “I'll stay here with this lunatic until morning.”

Josh grinned and replied jokingly again, sounding childish. “ Oooh! Sleepover! C-can we order pizza?”

“You sure you’re okay?” I asked.

Mike nodded. “Yeah, just...they’ll want to everything’s fine back there.”

“You’re right.” I replied. “See you in the morning.”

So with that Mike made himself comfortable, sitting down nearby. I dropped the wooden board and left, heading back to the lodge to tell Ashley, Kyle and Sam that Josh was now secured. I just hoped that this was the end of it, it had been a hell of a night, I just wanted us all to be safe now, when the morning came, it would all be over. I also had something very important to talk to Ashley about too.


	9. Chapter 8: Revelation

**Until Dawn: The Light of Day**

**Chapter 8: Revelation**

**Three Hours Until Dawn**

 

_**Emily** _

**04:01**

 

Consciousness slowly returned to me, I opened my eyes, only to instantly be struck with dizziness, my head was pounding from the blood rushing too it and no wonder.

“Oh God!! Oh my god!!” I cried out. “Brian!! Brian!!”

He did not reply, I couldn’t see him anywhere; the last thing I remembered was him getting that noose off my neck, removing my gag and untying me. He then began leading me to the door he had come through when the floor gave way. It seemed the only thing that had stopped me plummeting to my death had been that damn noose, the makeshift gallows had collapsed too and become wedged between some rocks. The noose had tangled itself around my ankle.

I was hanging upside from the it, over a sheer drop. “Oh...Jesus...Shit. OH SHIT! Dammit!”

I had no time to appreciate the irony that the thing that Psycho had been planning to use to end my life had just saved it. I could hear the ominous creaking above me and the sounds of the rope and knew, it wasn’t good. I had to get out my current predicament somehow. Looking around wildly I spotted something that I prayed could help me.

‘ _That ladder, if I can just reach it...’ I_ told myself. _‘Need to, get across, grab it...’_

I could just make out a ladder, protruding horizontally from a ledge, level with my body. Praying the noose would hold, I began using my body weight to swing back and forth, trying to build momentum until finally I was able to grab the very first rung. Just in time to, for at that moment, the rope snapped and I grunted as my body fell until I was now hanging from the ladder, holding on for dear life.

I quickly composed myself, the creaking above me told me I wasn’t out of the woods yet.

“Alright...” I whispered encouragingly to myself. _‘Let’s go, I can do this, just like the climbing frame in gym class...Only Sam was ever better at climbing than me.’_

I began to monkey bar her way across the ladder, as I neared the end the ladder shook violently as an object from above struck it.

“Shit! Shit!” I cried as I lost my grip.

Luckily there was a rock ledge not too far below, I landed on that and rolled over, groaning as I lay on her back. I quickly sat up however, for above me, I could see the remains of the gallows, they were beginning to fall along with the rocks holding them up. Before I could react a rock fell and struck my shin, I cried out, the sharp burst of agony nearly brought tears to my eyes. I began to push myself back using my hands and feet, remaining seated. Again I had a narrow escape, for I just got clear of the ledge and into the cave when the gallows and rocks finally fell, destroying the ledge and falling into the abyss.

“Oh God...” I muttered as I winced, examining my shin, a deep cut had been left in my leg, my jeans had been ripped. I pushed myself up onto my feet and found I could stand and the pain wasn’t too bad as I walked. Running might be difficult, but I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.

I then caught sight of a murky puddle of water, or I hoped it was water, on the floor. I grimaced as I was just about able to make out my reflection. I was a mess, covered in dirt and in addition to my leg, I had various other scratches, as well as a large gash above my left eyebrow, curving around my temple, there was a graze on my chin, I’d had a bloody nose at some point and my make up was a terrible mess, likely from my earlier crying. I turned and took a step into the cave, it was pitch black inside. I looked around and saw a plank of wood and noted some flaming debris and an open oil drum. If I had something flammable, I could make a makeshift torch. I rubbed my shin and looked down at my sweater. It was the only thing available.

“Oh God. Here goes six hundred bucks.” I muttered as I tore a long strip from the hem of my sweater off and began to wrap it around the stick. “Better be worth it, I looked great in that top.”

Now my makeshift torch was ready I doused it in the oil and then lit it on the flames. Now I had light.

“Alright, now we’re talkin’.”

Relieved that it worked, I began to make my way through the mine cavern. As I walked I suddenly heard an unusual noise and flinched, looking around wildly.

“Hello…?” I called nervously.

No reply, the noise didn’t repeat. So I continued onwards until I found the path blocked by a wooden door chained shut.

‘ _Great, now what...Hmm...’_ I thought as I looked down and saw the mine cart tracks.

Turning I looked up the slope to see a mine cart, braced near the top. I made my ascent, taking a moment to look around, in case I found anything else useful. But no, all I found was an old photo. Shaking my head I approached the cart and, leaning over, pulled the brake lever and backed off. I watched in growing hope and then joy as the mine cart rolled down the hill and broke right through the sealed passage, giving me a way forward again.

I walked through the newly opened passage to find  my self in a large chamber, looking around  I saw something which gave  me hope, an elevator.  I approached and looked upwards.  I couldn’t see all the way up, it looked like it up to the surface, or at least very close to it.

‘ _A way out.’_ I realized with hope.

But that hope was soon dashed as I tried to use it. “Shit...”

The elevator wouldn’t move, it had no power.

But I could see all the cables and such and knew it had a power source. “Okay, How do I get this thing on?”  
I had to find it. So, stepping off the elevator, lighting a small, wall mounted torch I looked around. Just then I heard a loud scream and, on one of the higher ledges, a burst of fire.  
“Ah!” I screamed. “What!? What the hell?”

My heart wouldn’t stop pounding and  I moved with great care now, not wanting to make too much noise.  All  I found down here was a clocking-in machine and danger signs, warning of structural collapse.

“Fuckin’ busted elevator’s my only way out.” I muttered, fuming.

Of all the situations to end up in,  I had to end up in this one. Stuck in some cold, dark and frankly terrifying abandoned mines, only to find they were not so abandoned and  I wasn’t sure who or what was out there.  Deciding to brave  my chances with the upper ledges  I approached a ladder, leading up to a wooden walkway and began to climb.

Reaching the top of the ladder  I set the torch down on the ledge and was about to pull  my self up when suddenly  I heard a loud metallic snap and then screamed as the ladder broke, falling away and sending  me tumbling down a slope to a lower lever.

“Fuck!!” I screamed out before hitting the ground. “Uggh...God damn...”

Winded, definitely bruised, along with  my other injuries,  I nevertheless pulled  my self to  my feet.  I’d lost  my light source,  I had not wanted to to this to conserve battery power, but  I had no choice now.  I pulled her phone out and turned on its light function; immediately illuminating a bunch of rotting skulls.

“NO!” I screamed, backing away in panic and disgust. “No, no, no!!”

I tried to scramble back up the slope, to no avail. “GROSS, GROSS, GROSS! Oh God.”

I gave up and turned to see the skulls again. “UGH, Disgusting…!”

Grimacing I forced myself to walk past them and continue on the path; thankfully it seemed there was only one way I could go. Just then I heard more footsteps and then a voice.

“Emily?”  
I screamed and spun around, wincing at the pain that lanced up my leg. Then I froze when I saw him.

“Brian?” I gasped.

It was Brian alright, he’d survived the fall too, but looked pretty bad for it. His nose was bloody and looked broken, he was limping from what looked like a twisted ankle and clutching his back.

“Think I pulled some muscles.” He muttered.

His gloves were gone, the left sleeve of his jacket had been torn off and there was a rip in the knee of his trousers.

“Holy shit, we’re...urgh...” I muttered. “What the fuck is going on?”

“Trapped." I finished simply.

I knew he was trying to lighten the tension, by simply remaining calm, but it was true. We were trapped

I sighed. “Great, just great...well, there’s nothing else for it, c’mon, we gotta get outta here.”  
With that he nodded and we began following the passageway, Brian had come down this way and knew more or less where it went and so he led the way, guided by the light from my phone.

We walked in silence mostly; I was glad of Brian’s presence though, despite myself.

I couldn’t help but fret however.  _‘We’re much deeper now however, further from the surface, further from getting out of here and...Huh?’_

I heard a sudden noise and, worriedly, I called out.

“Matt…?”

“You really think that’s him?” Brian queried.

“Well, where else could he be, we’ve not seem him lately.” I fired back.

"Look, he might be back at the lodge for all we know, but, he would've tried to call." Brian explained.

Neither of us got a reply however; I still wondered, fearfully what had happened to Matt, despite our argument, I didn’t want anything bad to actually happen to him. All the same the fear remained with me as Brian and I broke through some wooden planks that were blocking our path.

We continued to explore the passage, looking for anything that would lead us back to that ledge we needed to reach. I did note a few odd things, as well another 1952 photo, this time a family photo of the same miner I had found the photo of earlier. Biting my lip I looked up, we had found ourselves forced to climb a small rock wall.

"Ugh, rock climbing? The state my ankle and back are in? Besides, I haven't climbed rocks in years."

I groaned. “Let’s just do this, it’ll hurt the both of us, but we’ve no choice.”

We managed it well enough, but it caused pain to flare up in my injured leg again, just as it had died down to a dull throb I could control. I was sure Brian was going through the same thing too.

‘ _Fuck, shit...urgh, great...okay, relax, keep going Em, you can do this, you can do this.’_ I encouraged herself.

I finally found a ladder which we would be able to use to reach another tunnel, this one higher up.

“Hey, over there, c’mon, if we can just reach that.” I told him.

"Great, more climbing."

The pain in his voice told me the rock climbing hadn't helped him much at all, but, what choice did we have? So we made our way up to it, with some struggle, I went first and soon we were up on another edge, another tunnel ahead of us.

We continued to walk, looking around, just in case she ran into Matt down here.

“Matt!” I called out cautiously.

Nothing; then suddenly I saw the light was flickering.

“Huh, oh no...” I cried out and shook my phone, but it was no use. “Come-on-for-fuck-sake!”

I briefly saw the battery dying image before the phone went dead.

I growled. “Son of a bitch.”

He hugged me. "We can still find a way out, somehow."

I was startled by his actions, but right now, I was too worked up to care.   
Just then, beyond the tunnels,  I saw a burst of flame again.  
“Jesus, shit...”  I whispered.

"I know. Maybe someone knows what's going on, or where we are, but we won't know until we reach it." He replied.

“You’re awfully calm about that.” I groaned.

But then, that was the optimistic side of him I guessed. The fact we was seeing this in the direction we needed to go was what scared me the most.

Nevertheless, we steeled ourselves and walked onwards; we did not see the source of the fire; but I did see that we had made it to the ledge I had tried to reach earlier and there, on the ground, was my torch. Picking it up I grinned and approached the switch that controlled the power, flicking it I saw lights turn on, flicker and die, but I heard the sound of electricity and realized the power was indeed working.

“Oh my God, finally, something works.”

Brian grinned. "Yeah. Maybe we can find some answers about what the hell's been going on."

Relieved I nodded to him and we continued to follow the path into another tunnel, hoping to find another way down to the large chamber. It was then we reached another cavern, one flooded with moonlight, I jogged forwards, trying not to jostle my injured leg too much.

“Yes, YES!” I cried out.

“Emily?”

I gestured, we might not need the elevator after all. I immediately began trying to climb the slope, but it was too steep and slippery to climb. I groaned.

“Shit.” I muttered, so much for that.

"We'll need a plan B." He told me. "I'm sure we can find some other way out."

I shook my head. “That was plan B, luckily plan A is still available.”

Shaking my head I almost wanted to give up.

“Em?”

I sighed but then sat down. “I need a break.”

He agreed, sitting with me, letting us rest for a bit.

Soon, we began talking, mostly about our families, wanting to know more about each other.

"So, pretty rich?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Not that that's a bad thing."

He smiled. "My family's pretty rich, not as rich as yours. My dad runs his own restaurant chain, and my mom's a nurse."

"Nice, any other family members?" I asked, genuinely curious.

It was strange, I had never actually considered anything like this before, yet here I was, actually sitting with someone, not in the best situation I’ll admit, talking about family and actually finding out it wasn’t so bad.

Brian nodded and explained. "Younger brother, Michael. He's two years younger then I am. He's great with computers, not bad for a guy who's half blind."

"No way." I gasped.

"Yup."

"Cool. Maybe, if we live through this, I can meet them some time." I asked.

Brian paused for a moment, looking unsure before asking. "Your family, do they pressure you to be better then everyone else?"

"Hell no!" I cried, shocked he’d even asked.

"Sorry, I just-"

I tried to slap him, but he put his hand over mine.

He then spoke, surprisingly reasonable. "Look, a lot's happened, and fighting won't get us anywhere. There has to be a way out of here."

I sighed and nodded, he was right. "Tell me about it."

I started to feel something odd around him, couldn't put my finger on it though.

Finally, recovering I stood up. I couldn’t help but smile at Brian, now very grateful for his presence.  I continued to look around the cavern,  Brian helping me two things stood out in the light of  my torch.  The first was a photo of Hannah, showing her black butterfly tattoo, the second was a pair of broken glasses.

“Hannah?” I gasped, realizing.

"What the? How could she still be alive?" Brian whispered in disbelief.

Hannah’s personal items down here. That cliff, which I now realized was the same one Brian, Matt and I had been attacked by the deer.

‘ _She was here...maybe Beth too, they...God they must have fallen down here...’_

I shuddered at that thought and then noticed something else, partially hidden.

I pulled aside the wooden planks blocking my sight and froze when I saw several marks on the rock face, tally marks and a date.

“That’s...exactly a year ago...” I noticed out loud. “What does this mean…?”

They could've survived somehow, but that's not possible. Is it?” Brian muttered.  
I had to admit, I had some guesses, but prayed they were wrong. We continued out of the cavern, following the tunnels again. I nearly tripped over something. I glared at it, noticing it was a piece of wood. But then I looked closer.

‘ _It’s...it’s a cross, the kind used for a...a makeshift grave...’_ I wondered briefly who it was for, then sated that curiosity, lifting it up to read the name. “Beth...Oh Jesus.”

“That, has to mean she’s gone Em.” Brian whispered, looking very pale now, eyes wide.

I wished I hadn’t now, for here it was, cold hard evidence, while there was nothing definite on Hannah yet, Beth was dead. Hannah was definitely down here however and moving around, for not far away from the cross was her locket. Suddenly more afraid than ever, with memories of that day flooding back to me, I was more desperate than ever to escape, I was sure Brian was too. I hurried through, managing to squeeze past a partially opened door, into the next room. Brian right behind me.

I noticed what looked like a slumped over figure in the corner.  _‘Huh, who is that, are they…?’_

Gesturing for Brian, I carefully approached and touched the figure, briefly noticing it was wearing a familiar beanie hat and pink coat.

The well-preserved, still recognizable, but unmistakeably decomposing head of Beth Washington fell to the ground, revealing that the jacket was put around rocks, not her body.

“Oh God, Oh God!” I screamed, stumbling backwards, revulsion overcoming me. “Beth, No...Oh God, Beth, No!”

"What the fuck!" Brian tried to look away, but was unable to. "Fucking decapitated."

He was clearly fighting the urge to kick away the apparent trophy. I almost felt like throwing up; this was beyond horrific, what was Beth’s head doing here and where was the rest of her body. Not only that, I was yet to see any signs of Hannah’s body.

‘ _The distance travelled, the objects, everything...could it be?’_ I wondered. _‘Beth died from falling off that cliff, but Hannah, she must have survived, at least for a while...she must have died elsewhere down here...oh God...What have we done?’_

With a sharp intake of breath, I forced myself to hurry onwards, for I soon found myself through into the main chamber again and hurried to the elevator, Brian right behind me, grinning too, pulling the lever at once and let it take us up.

“Oh, Come, Let’s GO!!”

The elevator stopped before the surface however.

“No!!” I cried out.

"What the shit!." Brian muttered

He tried to re-start it, even trying to kick it, all to no effect. We were still stuck, but there had to be another way, maybe another elevator. We stepped off the elevator and moved forwards, but then retreated, I was stifling a gasp as Brian yanked we back, holding my shoulders. Down the tunnel to our left, we had seen him, a man was approaching, he was clad in dark clothing, had a scarf pulled up over his lower face and goggles over his eyes, he had grey thinning shoulder length hair. That was all we really saw before hiding, that and the fact he was carrying a number of weapons, most prominently, a flame-thrower; the source of the bursts of fire we kept seeing. I went stock still, freezing and watching as he stepped out of the tunnel, into the intersection. Brian right by my side, fighting to also stay still. The light from my torch mingled with one on the wall, so we didn’t need to hide it. We stayed stock still, watching him carefully.

“Oh god, please don’t come this way.” I whispered.

He did not move, he kept looking, as if searching for something.

But it was too much for me, my nerve broke and I fled, Brian hissed and ran after me. The Stranger clearly heard me and cried out, immediately pursuing us. I cried out too, silently pleading; trying to ignore the flaring pain in my leg. This couldn’t be good for Brian’s leg either. Ahead we could see the bridge was broken, in two places, despite knowing the pain this would cause we jumped both gaps, stifling a scream each time as it jolted our legs. As we ran we could hear him pursuing us. Up ahead I noticed a spilled oil patch and, acting solely on instinct, I threw my torch into it as we passed, setting up what I hoped would be a fiery barricade. Unfortunately our path took us to a dead end.

‘ _What do I do, what do I do...I can’t get away, I...’_ I thought frantically.

Unable to think, simply reacting, I led Brian to the side and we worked to hide ourselves in a crevice in the wall between two wooden boards and waited. But then the stranger reappeared and stood, looking around, before turning to look directly at us.

I whimpered as the Stranger approached us, he reached out and seized my hand.

“Urgh!” He grunted as I lashed out, striking him.

“ARGH!!” I screamed out, trying to get free.

Brian immediately joined the struggle too. “Leave her alone!”

He seemed to be glaring at us as he insisted. “Shhh, quiet!”

“NO, STAY AWAY!”

Just then, there was an inhuman shriek, the man turned his head, let go of my hand and instead pulled a pack off his shoulder and threw it to me.

“Use these!” He told us raising his flame-thrower in the direction he had been looking. “And get the hell out of here...now!”

So startled was I by this, I stumbled backwards, falling onto my butt. As he was still holding on to me, Brian fell to. I pushed the both of us further back only to scream as we fell down a ledge. Brian cried out too, just as we heard the burst of fire from the flamethrower.

“Woah!” I cried as she fell.

When we finally landed on the ground, I was on my back. Brian lay on his side, grimacing. I groaned, only to have the bag I had been given land and bounce off my stomach.

“What?!” I cried out before forcing myself up. “Oh shit...oh shit...Oh boy!”  
Muttering to myself as Brian joined me I opened the bag and saw it was full of flares.

“Perfect.” I grinned. “Look.”

Brian grinned too as I pulled one from the bag handing it to him, standing up on our feet, slinging the bag over my shoulder, I pulled out another.

“Yeah!” I cried out, lighting my flare. “Oh my God!”

Brian did the same and I saw we were in another tunnel, this one looked a little older, but thankfully still seemed stable, or as stable as possible.

I took a deep breath to compose  my self.

“Alright Em...” I told myself. “Let’s go.”

Brian spoke gently. “We got this.”   
I smiled and we began  our journey down the tunnel.  The path was pretty straight, although the ground was uneven and with  our in juries ,  Both Brian and I w ere soon walking with gritted teeth, trying to bear the pain. Eventually  we stopped; there was no direct path forward for  us , with one exception, the wooden boards ahead of  us were divided by a small gap. There was a narrow passage through.

“Ok, ok...” I said firmly. “This has gotta be the way.”

Brian groaned but nodded. “Let’s go.”

So we carefully slipped inside and began shimmying along the gap.

“Shit! Shit!” I cried out as suddenly a monstrous clawed hand burst through the boards and swiped.

It passed mere inches in front of my face, I wasted no time, pushed off from the wall and sprinted down the next passage. Brian was following me, he shouted something but I didn’t quite hear him.

‘ _Fuck, fuck, fuck, what was that...oh no, it’s chasing us.’ _I thought in a blind panic, hearing the screech and skittering noise behind us.

We began to cross a bridge which was broken, we quickly leapt the gap but missed the second gap. Although we were able to reach the other side, I lost my flare.

“Emily.” Brian hissed.

Silently cursing myself I followed him, glancing over my shoulder to see, to my shock, the monstrosity chasing us.

It was roughly human sized and human shaped, but it was most certainly not human, it was pale, it’s skin almost slick and shiny, it seemed completely hairless and naked, saved for tattered clothing that resembled panties. It’s eyes were white, it’s teeth razor sharp and it’s claws the same. It moved on all fours and leapt around, climbing the walls and ceiling as it chased after  us .

‘ _Oh fuck, oh God, no, please!’_

With those desperate thoughts, I soon faced a dilemma when we reached a fork in the road and had to decide which way to turn. Brian looked at me worriedly and I soon had the choice made for me, when the monster leapt in front of us, blocking the right path. We turned and ran as fast as we could down the left path. To my great relief, and Brian’s too I noted, we saw an elevator ahead. I prayed this one would save us and got on, pulling the lever and then pressing myself against the wall as it began to rise. Using this reprieve, I fought to catch my breath and calm down.  
“Come on!” I told myself sternly. “Breathe out...breathe in...Oh God, Oh god...Snap out of it, Em.”

Brian was fighting for breath too. “We, gotta keep...”   
It was then elevator ground to a halt, not reaching the surface, but certainly not that far from it. But the way it stopped terrified  me , that wasn’t a normal stop.  I heard the skittering again, far too close, the thing was climbing the outside of the elevator.

I went rigid and stood, so stiff  I couldn’t even tremble.  Brian had pulled me close and also stood, exactly the same as I was. My heart pounded heavily and  I could hardly hear over the blood pounding in  my ears.  I could feel Brian’s heart hammering against his chest too. I knew roughly where it was,  I could feel it’s rancid breath through a gap in the wood, on the back of  my neck. Finally it faded and  Ii heard the skittering fade away.

“Ok.” I sighed. Brian nodded, letting me go.

I strangely missed his touch.  Sh aking my head I began to run down the passageway ahead  with Brian at my side .  It was then  I realized it was a trap, the thing had been lying in wait for  us , and no w it pursued  us . Crying out  I ran as fast as  I could,  Brian ran by my side,  but it was gaining on  us . Seeing a chain in front of  me , connected to a trapdoor  I pulled it as  we passed. Rocks fell from above, temporarily halting the beast. But it continued it’s pursuit.

Tipping a barrel over, trying to slow it some more,  I ran frantically.  _‘No, no, no please, don’t let it, God I don’t wanna die!’_

Brian pushed over a third barrel, only for this one to leak oil.  I leapt back with a disgusted yelp. But then an idea struck  him ,  Brian held out his flare , throwing it onto the oil leak, creating a small fire.  We then resumed  our flight.  Our path however terminated in a drop. Taking a chance  we jumped down, finding that the drop wasn’t that steep, still  I winced as a jolt of pain shot up  my injured leg.  Brian hissed but gave no other indications of pain.

I wasted no time recovering though, thankfully Brian was right there with me, ahead of us was a conveyor belt; possibly our only chance out of here as I could see it led to a drop, but if we could jump the gap, we’d reach an upper ledge. Our only hope. So I yanked the leaver and climbed onto the belt which began moving, slowly. I couldn’t wait, that thing would catch us up any second.

“Oh come on...” I muttered as I began to crawl up the belt, hoping to expedite our progress. 

Brian saw this and began moving with me. But then we  saw another belt  and shared a look .  Finally Brian nodded and leapt to it, acting quickly I did the same and we soon reached the top and ran a little further forwards, the beast shrieked and seemed to be all around us.

“Urgh, fuck, what do you…?”  
Brian grimaced. “Should’ve thought of this in the first place. Picked this up when I found it after waking up.”

It was then he suddenly pulled out, of all things, a flare gun.

“What the hell, you’ve...”

But I never finished.

My chastisement was cut short as the beast appeared again,  I yelped in surprise but Brian wasted no time, he quickly took aim and as the beast charged, he fired. There was a bright, fiery burst as the flare shot out and then, with a loud shriek, the beast disappeared.

“Got it!” Brian cried.

I smiled, relieved. “Nice work, but we’re not outta this yet.”

We turned and ran, making it through the door ahead and slamming it shut, locking it. We turned and began leaping across the gaps in the floor until we reached a power line, I spotted a bar hanging from the line and, pointing it out to Brian, we took the risk, leapt up and used it as a zip-line. We continued to fly through the air until the zip line broke and we landed in a heap in the snow below. I struggled to my feet and found Brian by my side, trying to help me.

“I’m fine.” I told him.

He nodded and was about to reply. But just then we heard the shriek again, terror seized me, that thing wasn’t done.

 

_**Chris** _

**04:23**

 

I sighed, unsure what to say or do right now. Things had become so overwhelming, I was just glad we finally got to the truth. Josh had been exposed and was now under Mike’s watch in the shed. I still couldn’t believe that Josh of all people would do such a thing, but it was there, before our eyes. There were still concerns however, Brian, Emily and Jamie had been down there with us but had gone missing. There was still no sign of Matt and, if Josh really was telling the truth, then Jess wasn’t dead, but was still missing. I looked from where Ashley was sitting, her head rest on my shoulder, to Kyle and Sam, seated on the other sofa. Or rather, Kyle was, Sam had settled herself, rather comfortably, in his lap. Both looked as shaken as Ash and I, but we were alive at least. Then suddenly there came a pounding at the front door, and two voices.

“Let me in! Let me IN!!”

Then a male voice. “C’mon guys, are you in there, hurry up!”

From inside, Kyle, Ashley, Sam and I all leapt to our feet, hearing the noise.

“Is that-” Ashley began.

Sam immediately cried out.”It’s Em!!”

“And Brian!” Kyle added  
I nodded. “Let them in, Quick!”

We rushed to the front door and opened it, Emily practically fell inside, still screaming.

“Shut the door, oh my God, shut the door!!!”

Ashley and Sam dragged her further inside, while helping her to her feet. Meanwhile Kyle did the same for Brian who was clearly injured. I hurried and closed the door.

We all made our way back to the great room, guiding Emily and Brian to the sofa so they could sit down.  
“Em Brian, are you guys alright?” I asked worriedly.

Emily fought desperately for breath. “I didn’t think I’d make it...”  
I shook my head. “You were screaming bloody murder.”  
“Yeah...” Sam replied. “Are you okay?”

"You guys look like you've seen a ghost," Kyle added.

“You look totally wiped...”  
Emily just groaned at Ashley’s comment and tried to speak, Brian was shaking like mad, clearly also trying to get his voice to work.

“There was something...”

Brian spoke up too, frantic. “We were down the mines.

Emily nodded, touching Brian’s shoulder, in a surprisingly gentle fashion, both of them seemed finally able to relax now they was seated and amongst familiar faces.

Something’s out there.” She said at last.

Brian nodded vigorously. “It was chasing us, we...”  
“A monster...” Emily blurted. “It’s a monster!”  
“Wait.”  
With that single word I managed to stop everyone talking over each other, I felt now we had a better chance getting answers.

Concern for Emily  and Brian ’s well-being was  my first priority.

“Are you both okay?” I asked, gesturing to their injuries.

Emily shook her head. “I’m fine, I don’t feel anything, I just need to calm down.”

"That's probably not a good thing, Em," Kyle replied shakily.

Brian meanwhile sighed. “I think so, it’s...it’s not just my leg or nose...my back...but I’m able to move, so…  
He paused for a moment before whispering. “It was moving so damn fast...”  
“What?”

“We just had to get away.” Emily added.”  
“Away from what?” Sam asked, perplexed.

Emily shuddered and spoke. “Th-there was this thing, whatever it was...”

Sam  gently  tried to reassure her. “ Em, Em, you can relax... Josh was messing with us... but we-”

But she shook her head vehemently. “You’re not listening to me.”  
Brian spoke up. “We’re not kidding guys, there’s some kinda...monster out there and it, it nearly...”

He couldn’t finished because then he seemed to remember something else.

"What is it? Vampires? Werewolves?" Kyle asked sarcastically, to the amusement of no one.

He shared a worried look with Emily, before she spoke again.

“We…we were walking down there, in the mines, and it was dark and we found this pile and there was Beth's head!”

We all gasped in horror and she repeated the fact she had found it, more firmly seeing the disbelief in our faces no doubt.

"This is all fucked..." Kyle cried.

“Oh my God...” Ashley choked out, shock and dismay overcoming her.

I shook my head. “What the fuck?”  
“Are you serious!?” Sam asked in dismay.

“YES I’m serious!” Emily snapped before calming down. “I think they fell down there. But the worst part is, I don’t think Hannah died, like, from the fall, not right away…”

“What do you mean?” Ashley burst out in horror.

"Did you guys find something?" Kyle asked

Emily swallowed nervously before replying. “ I don't know... I feel like she was down there... like, starving to death... for weeks... when we were all up here looking for her... we had no idea!”

I grimaced at that. “Jesus, that’s horrible...”

We felt into silence for a moment.

It was then Mike burst into the room, his eyes widening when he saw Emily  and Brian .

“Em, you made it!” He cried out. “Brian, you guys...

She stood up and they hugged, both relieved. “Oh god, Mike...”

Brian just smiled and nodded.  
I sighed. “Yeah, yeah, barely!”

Mike looked around, worried again. “Are we the only ones who…?”

“We’re trying to figure that out.” Ashley explained.

“And there was this ‘monster’ that was chasing her...” I began.

Mike smiled softly, noting Emily’s condition. “She’s all messed up guys, Emily? Hey, Em?”

Before she could respond, a loud bang was heard, the sound of someone knocking on the door, heavily.

“Whoa?”

"Again?" Kyle cried, exasperated.

“Who the fuck can that be?” Mike muttered.

“Josh?” Ashley suggested.

I looked over at Mike uneasily. “Jess?”

He shook his head. “It’s not Jess.”  
“Sorry man...” I replied, but then queried. “But who is it?”

“I don’t know...We should check it out.” Mike answered.

"If you're sure that's the right thing to do..." Kyle said, unsure.

I shook my head before agreeing to go with Mike, together we made our way to the door and Mike pointed his gun at the door, cautious.

I took a deep breath.

“Okay, I’m gonna open the door, you ready?” I bit my lip and repeated. “You ready?”  
Mike rolled his eyes. “Uh huh, just do it already, whoever it is has probably gone by now.”

I still stalled. “Unless you want me to take the gun.”  
“ No, no, no. I think that's less good. You do the door, I got the gun.”  Mike replied.

I nodded and approached the door, but I had barely turned the handle when it was suddenly kicked open, Mike and I both cried out and tried to urge the sudden visitor to stop. It was an elderly man, grizzled with many scars, gray eyes and hair and carrying a flame-thrower.

“Freeze...Ahh!” Mike cried out as the Stranger effortlessly disarmed him. “What the, alright. Alright, just it easy, grandpa...”

“Okay.” The Stranger spat in a thick accent. “Everybody just calm down. Now just move over there, go on, move! Let me say what I came to say.”

By this point we had backed up and now we were all back in the great room, with Brian, Kyle and the girls all staring in shock at the sudden new arrival, especially Emily and Brian. They seemed to recognize him.

Glaring at all of us, the man shook his head.

“I'm here to tell you what you're up against being back on this mountain. You should never have returned.” He told us darkly, dropping his bag near the fireplace. “I don't know why you did after what happened last year.”

We all shared a look and Ashley nervously asked. “You mean Hannah and Beth?”

“Yeah, how could you know that without being involved…?” I queried.

Sam however jumped in then, glaring. “Or responsible!?”

Kyle pointed a stiff finger at the Stranger in accusation. "What did you do to them?"

“You hold on to your horses.” The Stranger spat. “I don’t take kindly to you kids coming up here to my mountain-”

Mike scoffed at that. “Your mountain? I’m sure the Washingtons would be very surprised to hear that.”  
The Stranger laughed at Mike’s comment.

“Well, this mountain don't belong to me, it's true.” He admitted, but then added in a growl. “But it don't belong to the Washingtons. This mountain belongs to the Wendigo.”

There was a stunned silence after that, we all shared a look.

"What the hell is a Wendigo?" Kyle burst.

Kyle wasn’t the only one we all began voicing our confusion, pretty much asking what a Wendigo was, in the end, we had no choice, they decided to hear the old man out.

The Stranger glared at  us all, giving  us enough time to notice the flame-thrower wasn’t his only weapon, he was carrying a machete and a shotgun too.

“Now I'm only going to tell you this once. It doesn't matter to me if you believe it or not. I got reasons I want to...” He explained, before sighing and adding. “Get it off my chest...”

Mike jumped on that however. “See? I told you! He's guilty as shit! Guilty of something!”

Sam quickly cut in. “ Shh. Shut up Mike!”

Kyle stepped in to additionally stop Mike. "Not until he tells us what the hell is going on."

The Stranger had a faraway look in his eye, as he began to tell his story.

“There is a curse. That dwells in these mountains. Should any man or woman resort to cannibalism in these woods the spirit of the Wendigo shall be unleashed.” Looking at all of us he then warned. “You’re going to need to find somewhere safe.”  
“The basement might be okay.” Sam suggested.

"The basement is rarely a good idea, but we have no other options I guess," Kyle said seemingly to himself, rather than the group.

The Stranger instructed us to go down and wait there, it was all we could do, while waiting for rescue.

It was while  we were discussing this that Mike  suddenly seemed to realize  something.

“Guys...” He gasped. “I ran off and left Josh when I heard screaming.”  
The Stranger turned to him at once. “Where did you leave him?”

Mike shuffled his feet and admitted. “In the shed.”  
The Stranger gave a short snort. “Your friend will already be dead.”

“No, no he can’t be.” I burst out. “We were just with him!”

“A lot can happen quickly on this mountain.”  
I wouldn’t accept that however. “No, I’m gonna go get him.”

The others protested, Ashley most vehemently.

“I’m supposed to be his best friend and I let him down.” I replied.

Ashley shook her head. “No he let you down Chris, he let all of us down.”

"It's not going to matter if he's dead," Kyle pointed out.

I didn’t care however, I still intended to go and, despite my initial unwillingness, I agreed to accompany the Stranger with everybody else being sent to the basement. We began to make our way to the back door, while everybody else heading down to the basement. After giving me his shotgun and a few warnings the Stranger stepped out into the snow. I was about to follow when I heard Ashley’s voice.

“Hey...” I turned and she smiled softly. “Come back safe.”  
With that she suddenly kissed me and, before I could say anything she nodded and I followed the stranger while Ashley closed the door and watched us go.

On the walk to the shed, the Stranger, at  my insistence, began to fill  me in on Wendigo's and their weaknesses,  I was shocked to realize the shotgun wouldn’t kill them, only slow them down, apparently fire was their only weakness, they also had some patterns that they adhered to, like only hunting at night. Much of what  I heard made  me even more uneasy and not too happy about  my chances.

“Any uh, pro Wendigo tips?” I asked. “Like if I rub garlic all over me they won’t be able to smell me or something.”  
“They’ll still smell you.” The Stranger replied disdainfully.

“Anything like that?”

The stranger grunted but conceded that apparently, their vision was based on movement and, although he didn’t recommend testing it out, standing perfectly still might make a person invisible to them. It was then  we arrived at the shed, only to find the stool Josh had been tied to empty and broken.  I rushed to it and realized  we were too late.  I was desperate to find Josh but the Stranger insisted  we leave, revealing to  me that the Wendigo was fond of rendering its victim immobile and then stripping the skin from the body piece by piece and keeping them alive and aware while it feasted on their organs.  I was freaked out enough to finally agree to give up and  we began to leave.

We had barely gone ten paces from the shed when the Stranger yelled.

“Wait, don’t move.”

I froze, a second too late, as my foot came down on a twig that snapped.

The Stranger reacted at once. “RUN, GO, NOW, NOW!!”  
I darted forwards, just as a monstrous creature leapt in front of me.

I leapt back in shock, crying out. “HOLY SHIT, WHAT THE FUCK!?!”

The Stranger blasted the Wendigo with his flame-thrower yelling out. “BACK, BACK!”

After warning me to get out of there, get back to the lodge, the Stranger stepped back, raising his flame-thrower again when suddenly he let out a choked gurgle. I watched in horror as his body hit the ground, his head hitting it separately a second or so later.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” I gasped, shock almost setting in.

It was then however I was forced to act, for the Wendigo then turned and lunged, right at me.

I did the only thing  I could,  i raised the shotgun and fired, point-blank, right in its deformed face. It felt back with a shriek and  i immediately took off running, desperate to reach the lodge, before it was too late.  i hadn’t gone far when the Wendigo returned, or maybe it was another one,  I wasn’t sure but it leapt out in front of  me .  I fired and hit it, as it fell back  I ran until  I reached a ledge and leapt off.  i landed and cried out as pain flared up in  my ankle. Looking up  i saw the Wendigo coming back for more,  I shot again and ran as fast as  I could, limping on  my injured leg.

‘ _Sprained ankle, it’s gotta be a sprained ankle.’_ My thoughts raced but then I saw ahead. _‘Oh shit!’_

The Wendigo was back for more again. I fired and struck it again, I was now within reach of the lodge, I run up to it, yelling.

“Oh thank God, Please, let me in, quick!”  
Ashley opened the door at that moment, I burst in and slammed the door shut behind me, locking it, for all the good I felt it would do.

Ashley turned to me, eyes wide.

“Chris, oh my god, what happened?”  
I shook my head. “We gotta go, that thing was like, right behind me-”

We heard it shriek as it leapt at the door and slammed into it. Ashley let out a short scream and I urged her to go. We hurried as quick as we could down to the basement, Mike was half-way up the basement stairs, apparently on his way up to get Ashley. He quickly turned and headed back down with us.

 

_**Mike** _

**04:47**

 

Still in shock from the recent terrors, Chris, Ashley managed to enter the basement room, while I made sure to close and bar the door behind is.

“Oh my god!” Emily gasped seeing them. “Thank God!”  
Sam also turned, relieved. “What took you so long?”

"Does it matter? At least we're alive!" Kyle shot back.

"Someone mind explaining what's going on?" Brian asked.

Chris shook his head.

His words were spoken in a daze. “It’s not so good up there right now-”

“Understatement of the night.” I muttered with a sigh.

Sam looked around worriedly. “Chris, where’s the flame-thrower guy?”

“Ah yeah, he uh...” Chris managed to get out.

He didn’t need to finish as we all realized the truth, the man was dead.

"Jesus," Kyle muttered.

"Damn!. He knew about these things, with him gone, we're on our own." Brian managed.

They were all shocked and instantly scared. I couldn’t deny, I was too. It was clear the man was an expert on these Wendigos and they no doubt hoped that, with him on our side, we’d have a chance of survival, now he was dead, which completely shattered our hopes.

“What happened?” Sam gasped.

Chris shuddered, hating remembering. “ The thing, it... it tore him apart! Right in front of me!”

“Oh God...”

There was a stony silence as we all took this in, realizing what we felt was our best chance had been torn away.

Finally I came to a decision as I paced around the room, looking around wildly. There was no other way.

“Alright.” I said, realizing I sounded frantic. “These all the doors?”

Sam nodded. “Yeah.”

“Are you sure?”

She raised an eyebrow. “What are you looking for?”

He sighed and admitted. “Another way out.”

"Are you serious?" Kyle asked.

“Mike...” Sam shook her head. “I really don't think that's a good idea. We should stay put, right here, until dawn. At least we're safe down here-”

I turned to her incredulous. “Oh? Yeah? All wrapped like a little present with a bow on top for that thing to tear us apart on Christmas morning?”

Sam tried to reassure him. “People will come for us, in the morning.”

“You don’t sound so sure.”

She insisted. “That’s what’ll happen, right?”

"Someone's gotta come for us," Kyle insisted.

"Yeah, if they know where the hell we are." Brian said.

I shook his head and stepped away. “Well, you can wait, I’m leaving.”

“Mike, do you have the key for the cable car?” Sam asked him.

I bit my lip and thought for a moment.

Finally it dawned on  me and  I turned back to the others.

“Josh, he’s gotta have it.”

“Josh?” Sam queried.

I nodded. “One of his dirty little tricks.”

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Josh thought of everything didn't he?"

Sam groaned. “Great. Great!”

“If that fucking thing got a hold of Josh, then...” I sighed and shrugged. “We're shit outta luck.”

“I don’t know Mike, it’s possible...” Emily began but trailed off. When questioned she explained. “It may have taken him down to the mine. “I saw some horrible stuff down there... I think it's where that thing lives and...huh.”

She trailed off again, noticing a collection of documents which she began looking closely at.

“Em, what?” Sam asked.

“Fuck it.” I said at last. “I'm gonna get that key. Right from thing's goddamned bedroom, and then I'm gonna get us all the hell out of here.”

"You're fucking insane!. We have no idea what's down there." Brian warned.

I shook my head, I knew that, but there was no other choice. Before I could leave however I heard Sam and Emily talking and joined them at the work bench.

“Em, what is all that?”

Emily replied. “It’s that old guy’s bag...”

I then saw what they were looking at. “Is that a map?”

“This guy was prepared for anything.” Sam noted.

“Not quite.”  
Emily shook her head. “What is this place?”

Some of the things on the map shocked us all, Ashley and Kyle had joined them by now but didn’t speak. Chris remained where he was, sitting against another bench, staring blankly at the floor. Brian was sitting next to him, trying to do whatever he could for his injuries.

Sam then pointed out something, it looked like a tunnel, but it was marked as dangerous.

“Wait, wait, wait, what is that?” She asked, disturbed.

I shook my head, I had passed the collapsed section on my back from the sanatorium. “I was down there, it was horrible.”  
“You were?”

I began to relate the history of what I saw, the survivors of the mine collapse, what the reporter found out, the cover up and the fact the owners knew the mines were a death trap, then also, the discovery of the restraining chair. The others were soon gazing at me in utter shock.

“I’m just saying.” I told them. “It’s weird how much crazy shit’s gone on up here.”  
Emily shook her head and pointed to the map. “What’s weird is there’s a tunnel leading from the lodge to the Sanatorium, see.”  
“That’s how I got back here.” i explained.

The others nodded and Emily remembered her own trip through the mines. “I saw this when I was down there, that’s where it lives.”  
I sighed and made up my mind, picking up my gun and sliding it into my jeans.

“No one leave okay. It’s not safe out there.” I turned and prepared to go and get Josh, to return to the Sanatorium where I hoped to find a way down to the part of the mines I needed to get to. “I’ll be back soon.”

With that I left the basement.

 

_**Ashley** _

**04:51**

 

After Mike left, there was an uncomfortable silence as we all realized we were now stuck, unsure what to do, or how long things would take, especially if something happened to Mike. Emily lay flat out on the bench, Sam sat down near her, also looking relieved, Kyle taking his place next to Sam. I bit my lip and slowly began to make my way over to the desk where all the Stranger’s belongings were laid out.

“I thought that...that he was going to help us.” Emily said sadly.

Sam turned to her. “Who, the flame-thrower dude?”

“Now we don’t have a chance.”  
Sam however shook her head. “No guys, it just means we’ve got to be tough, we gotta do this on our own.”  
“I don’t know if I can.” Emily muttered in response.

"Hey, don't talk that way. We'll get through this, all of us." Brian told her.

Chris did not reply at all. I couldn’t help but wonder over what happened and, spotting a journal of sorts I began to read it. In it I found the Stranger had documented everything he knew about the Wendigos, including some stuff he hadn’t actually told us, such as how they could mimic humans, especially their voices to lure prey to them. In truth, all of it was scary.

But then I found a page which caught my eye.

“Oh...Oh no, no, no, no, no...” I gasped as she read the passage again.

“What, what is it?” Sam asked.

Grimacing I handed her the journal as I stood up. Same read the page and her eyes widened.

“Oh shit, shit...” She gasped.

"What's wrong, Sam? What does it say?" Kyle burst out, worried by his girlfriend’s reaction.

But all Sam said was. “We gotta go find Mike.”

She sounded so panicked none of the others questioned her, they simply grabbed what they needed and followed her out of the basement. I immediately joined them, this was worse than any of us thought.


	10. Chapter 9: Karma

**Until Dawn: The Light of Day**

**Chapter 9: Karma**

**Two Hours Until Dawn**

 

_**Mike** _

**05:03**

 

I approached the doors to the Sanatorium towards the end of the tunnel, I never imagined I’d end up back here again. I reached the door and opened it.

“Oof, ok, ok, ok, what’s the-” I muttered, having forgotten how stiff it was.

Finally in I closed and locked the door behind me. I didn’t want the others to be put at risk; I began retracing my steps, past the area that was still scorched from the explosion, some debris still smouldered. I made my way up the large stairs and began retracing my steps back to the chapel. When I finally reached the chapel I stopped and looked around in surprise, the place was in even worse shape than before.  
“Ho-lee...shit.” I whispered.

I looked around, noticing something that troubled me right away.  
“Huh...What happened to the wolves?”

They were gone. I continued my search, most gated doors and regular doors were locked. On the far wall was a hole that led outside, to reveal a makeshift graveyard, all graves bore the same date. Shaking my head at yet another part of the 1952 mystery, I continued my search of the chapel, until I found a way to get behind one of the gated doors, from above.

Inside I found it was a cramped storeroom, used by the Stranger, on a nearby table were things I knew right away would be useful. I had a flashlight true, but I pocketed it. The torch I found would be more useful as both a light and a weapon against the Wendigos. I lit the torch and picked up a pack of shells for a shotgun. By pure coincidence, there was also a sawed-off shotgun on the bench too.

“Now I just need a pitchfork and a mob.” I joked to myself; but shrugged. “Good enough.”

Gathering everything I managed to exit the storeroom and made my way to the other locked door, near the hole in the wall. Reaching the door I readied myself and shot the lock off before kicking the door open. I entered into the new corridor and heard a noise. I tensed but then relaxed and smiled.

“Hey big guy!” I said cheerfully as a familiar wolf stepped into view.

It was the wolf I met earlier and befriended.

“happy to see me again huh?” I said as the wolf approached me, non-aggressively. “Heyyy, I was hopin’ I’d run into you again.”  
I gently scratched the wolf behind the ears.

I grinned as I did so, relieved to have some company.

“Alright, good boy...Alright pal, you’re comin’ with me.” I said standing up. “Alright, here’s the plan. I happened to see a map of this place, so we're not flying blind. There should be a way into the psychiatric wing that'll take us right outside the mine. Think we can handle that?”

The wolf looked up at me and let out a small contented noise.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself, atta boy.”

So  I found  my self following the wolf as it actually began guiding  me through the fenced outdoor path to another building of the sanatorium, clearly signposted as the Psychiatric Ward and Restraining Area, the very place  I was looking for.  As  we entered however a loud noise startled  me , at the same time Wolfie barked, sounding angry.

“Jesus Chri-” I composed myself quickly. “Okiedokie boy, calm down.”  
Wolfie just ran on ahead, getting past the door blocking our path, squeezing through a gap I couldn’t.

I sighed. “Wish I could move like you, Wolfie, think I’m stuck on this side.”  
Stuck I tried a nearby lever which partially opened the door. I was able to slide through, although I noticed that the door behind me was now closed. Continuing to make my way through the circular room, trying to find a way down to the center I reached a staircase and made my way down.

Searching the area  I found  my self in turned up only one thing of interest, disturbing interest, a death certificate. Shaking  my head  I left that office and continued to follow the path. This part of the Sanatorium at least did not look as bad as the other, but still in pretty bad shape.

“AH!” I cried when I rounded the corner. “Oh, son of a bitch.”  
Wolfie barked quietly, shuffling back as we both beheld the strung up, partially devoured carcass of Wolfie’s fellow four legged canine.

“Huh... Jesus Christ, what the fuck have I gotten myself into...?” I muttered. “Fuck man, this is truly disgusting.”  
Wolfie walked away, moving into the next area. I however noticed something to my left, an open cell door. I examined it, noting a few odd things.

“Huh...These doors were built like tanks, how crazy were these inmates?” I wondered aloud, before seeing the markings on the walls of that cell, what looked disturbing like claw marks. “What went on here, this is nuts.”  
With a greatly uneasy feeling, I returned to following Wolfie as we made our way through the Sanatorium. Our long search through various corridors and rooms in varying stages of dilapidation turned up more clues, all of them disturbing.

The first discovery was an old film reel which showed a miner transforming into a Wendigo, the transformation had been triggered deliberately, almost like an experiment, with the man restrained in the chair  I had seen in the morgue.  I also found a case study dossier which detailed the discoveries in further detail, all of it made it clear that the miners that survived the collapse did so by eating those that did not and became Wendigos, subsequently breaking free and causing the mass destruction of the sanatorium.

“Jesus hot sauce Christmas cake, this is fucking unbelievable.” I muttered.

I continued to follow Wolfie’s lead, stumbling across another clue. This one in the form of a corpse with a suicide note. The final piece of the puzzle, the dead guy was the owner of the sanatorium and the mine, it confirmed my suspicions about what had happened. Not wanting to see anymore of this, I hurried made my way into the next room, relieved to find myself on the ground floor, at the center of the structure at last. Throughout my journey I had felt the ominous presence of being watched and now I heard a loud screech, I froze, it had to be a Wendigo.

Entering the wide room properly  I reacted as a can fell off a small container and shot it.  I quickly loaded the shotgun again, shaking  my head as it turned out to just be a rat. But then the Wendigo jumped down from the ceiling in front of  me .

“Ha!” I cried, firing at it, striking it in the face. “How does that feel you fuck!?”  
I quickly ran onwards, following Wolfie who led the way, the Wendigo recovered and began a close pursuit.

“Jesus, fuck, fuck!” I cried.

I reached a fork in the path and went left.

“Shit, shit, shit.” I muttered as I closed the door behind me quickly.

“Okay...What the?” I gasped, my torch died. “Oh fuck, fuck, fuck...FUCK!”  
I quickly barricaded the door with a nearby cabinet and hurried onwards. My flight was interrupted however by another Wendigo attack, but this one I fended off with my machete, lodging it in the creature’s face. I ran onwards, soon closing another door and stopping, I was able to catch my breath and nod to Wolfie.

Relieved the wolf was still with me I managed a small smile.

“Good dog...shh, sh...” I said reassuringly. “It’s okay, it’s fine.”  
Wolfie suddenly darted away, seeking cover, taking that as my cue, I did the same, just as a Wendigo jumped down and landed on a nearby table. It appeared we were in a kitchen of sorts. Remembering what I had heard, I stopped moving and did my utmost to stay till. The Wendigo looked around warily, clearly searching for me. Suddenly I heard the sound of a bottle rolling right above me. I quickly caught it as it fell, thankfully not giving myself away. Taking a chance while it was distracted, I ran into the next room, Wolfie by my side.

“Dammit...alright.” I growled under my breath. “Come one you son of a bitch, where are you?”

I was actually getting lower now, going underground; I could hear Wendigo screeches all around and it was freaking me out.

I was  in  what was clearly an isolation ward, with several cells, as  Ii neared one of the cells a Wendigo attempted to grab  me but missed. Crying out  I leapt back and shot the Wendigo right in the face.  I took off running, Wolfie still by  my side.

“When is this shit gonna stop!?” I asked the wolf. “Jesus Chr- It’s like a fucking bad dream.”

I ducked as another Wendigo lashed out from its cell to attack me.

“Whoa, fuck this!”  
I continued to run, dodging another attack, I grit my teeth and slowed down. Keeping my gun at the ready, fully loading it, I looked around warily.

“One at a time boys.” I quipped; trying to cover my nervousness, my pounding heart. “There’s enough of me for all a’ya.”  
I fired at another Wendigo after dodging its attack and ran onwards, ducking under another arm and then shooting another just as I realized this one was chained up and couldn’t reach me.

“Oh Jesus... Oh Jesus... Fuck... fuck, fuck.”

I hurried away, dodging another attack and then shooting another before rounding a corner, ahead I saw the end of the restraining area hallway, and looking over my shoulder, a free Wendigo in pursuit.

Panicking I tried to open the door it only partially opened and the Wendigo was jumping across the walls towards me.

“Dammit, not good!”

I quickly shot at it and then tipped over a barrel next to me. Just then two more Wendigos began to leap towards me. I quickly pushed the barrel and, when it was level with them, I fired, blowing up the barrel and incinerating the Wendigos, albeit it knocked me back and I grunted, muttering to myself as I recovered, running away as what I guessed was the Wendigo spirits appeared and flew away.

“Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit!”

I recovered and managed to get through the door, closing and locking it again. I stopped and caught my breath, I was back in the main Psychiatric ward; my path wasn’t through here it seemed, not with those monsters now on the loose; luckily I knew of an alternate way in, thanks to that map. However on the way, I found himself pursued by another Wendigo.  
“Fuck!”

I ran ahead and, seeing the locked door ahead blasted it, managing to break though before barricading it and hurrying onwards, jumping down a hole. Looking up I stopped, Wolfie was standing there, looking down at me.

I was beyond relieved to see the wolf had survived.

“Hey buddy, come on down, it’s alright.” I said; but Wolfie didn’t move and I understood. “Okiedokie bud, catch ya on the flipside huh?”  
Wolfie leapt over the hole and padded away. Hoping he’d be alright, I hurried upstairs to the exit of the Sanatorium, but the door wouldn’t open and a tell-tale shriek told me another Wendigo was behind me. I spun around, cursing and fired at a nearby barrel, the room exploded and I leapt from it, right outside. The Sanatorium was now on fire and more and more shrieking could be heard. Recovering, I ran for the mines.

 

_**Jess** _

**05: 15**

 

It was in the cold dankness that I awoke, I was still clad in my white floral patterned, blood and dirt stained panties and a matching bra, I grimaced in pain, feeling like I had nasty gashes on my face and chest, more on my arms and legs, so much blood covering her. I could see all of it but my face, but it felt like a reasonable assumption. I groaned again and then realizing her surroundings I sat bolt upright.

“Oh...” I then cried out. “Shit!”  
The pain was immense, it filled every inch of my body and I could barely move without it flaring up. Nevertheless, I told myself, I had to move. I awkwardly stood up, pain ricocheting through my body and the cold gnawing at my exposed skin.

“Shit.” I whimpered. “Oh god...”

I gasped as, at that moment, I heard a loud, inhuman screech. I shuddered, it was far too cold, I began to move, despite the pain. I needed to find clothes of some sort, anything to cover my almost naked body. But then it happened, before I could go too far. Another shriek and then I screamed when I saw the creature that suddenly dropped before me, now towering over me. It was huge and emaciated, chalky white skin, but clearly very dangerous, hairless with wide staring eyes, yet with razor sharp teeth and claws. The cold and fear made me tremble, I was so scared I just panicked.

The creature advanced upon me, growling menacingly as I staggered back, the pain nearly blinding me. But then suddenly, with a loud yell, someone appeared and struck the monster in the side with some sort of steel pipe.

“Jess, run!” It was Matt.

I staggered back and then tried to do so, but the pain was so much, I cried out, but then suddenly someone else grabbed me and I was yanked aside. I screamed but then came another voice.

“Jess, don’t move, quiet.” It was Jamie.

I let out a horrified gasp but couldn’t move as Jamie held me tight, despite the fact I was soaking him with my blood. Then it happened, we were helpless to do anything, especially with that monster’s strength, which it soon demonstrated when it smashed Matt’s face in, killing him instantly. That was the last thing I saw before Jamie pulled me closer, blocking my view and shielding me. But we heard the creature as it left and, from the sound of things, it was dragging Matt with it.

 

_**Kyle** _

**05:16**

 

The five of us left the basement on a desperate adventure to find Mike. Thank goodness for our flashlights, it would be hard to see without it. Sam led the way to the Sanatorium using the Stranger's journal. The rest of us flanked her, but Chris was falling behind.

"Hey, guys, I'm gimping here. I think maybe you should go on without me."

"Oh no, Chris!" Ashley cried. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I will," he insisted. "I just need a breather. You guys need to find Mike, I'll catch up, I promise."

None of us liked the idea, let alone Ashley. I offered to carry him, but Chris refused. We had to agree he would slow us down; he simply just wasn't mobile enough. We continued to move through the tunnel. We wouldn't stop until we found Mike. Eventually, we came face to face with a large door. Sam attempted to the open the door, but I can only assume it didn't work based on her outrageous stream of curses.

"There has to be another way in," Emily pointed out.

"Sure,' I agreed. "But where?"

"Over here, guys," Ashley called.

We gazed over curiously. Ash knelt over a rather large-sized manhole. We all looked at each other uneasily.

Ashley cleared her throat. "Should we try it?"

Sam threw up her hands. "Doesn't look like we have much of a choice."

We grimly nodded and went to work removing the cover to the manhole. Once we used the crowbar to take it off, we examined the dark abyss.

"So... whose going in first?" Emily asked.

Everyone hesitated, then I felt three pairs of eyes focus on me.

"Of course," I muttered sarcastically. "It's always Kyle."

I descended down into the darkness. Once I my feet hit the ground, I called out to the others to let them know it was safe. We took tentative steps towards our destination, until Ashley stopped us.

"Wait, shouldn't we leave something to let Chris know where we went?"

Sam bit her lip, unsure. Em just shrugged. I, however, nodded. "I think it's a good idea. Let's use your beanie. Chris will know it instantly. I'll make some markings real quick and catch back up with you."

"I'm not sure..." Sam hesitated.

"I'll be right back, Sam," I assured her.

"Fine," she relented. "But be quick."

I nodded. Ash tossed me her beanie and I went to work while they left me behind. I was right, it didn't take me long. But as I was finishing up, I became aware of a noise. The noise grew louder and shriller until I was sure it was a voice. A voice I recognized. I grabbed my flashlight and searched frantically through the dark corridors to find the source. It took me a short time to find it. Underneath me was a trap door, and the voice beneath it was undeniably similar to Jessica's. And it was pleading for help. I hesitated though, my fingers on the latch. I recalled Mike insisting that Jess was dead. Not only that, but I remembered reading in that damn journal that Wendigo's could imitate my loved one's voices to potentially lead me into a trap. I heavily considered unlatching the trap door, but better judgment won out. I stood up and retrieved my flashlight and tried to ignore the desperate cries. I walked slowly down the dark corridor, my ears pricked for the sound of Sam's voice, any of my friends' voices. Dust descended from the ceiling after I felt a slight tremor. I tried to ignore it, but I could feel fear start to gnaw at me. I gazed upwards nervously. But that's when I felt the ground start to shake. Panic seized my spine. I felt paralyzed in fear. By the time, I tried to move, I had tripped over myself in my terror. And then suddenly I was falling. My last thought was of Sam, and how I let her go on without me. And then, black.

 

_**Chris** _

**05:26**

 

I limped closer to the door ahead, looking around, this was an apparent dead end.

“Sam!” I cried out. “ASH! You guys hear me?”

I looked down and stopped when I saw the open man hole. i examined it and then saw the arrow and something familiar.

‘ _Ashley’s beanie, she’s not taken it off the whole time we were here...she must have made the arrow...’_ I realized, grinning. _‘Clever, Ash, clever.’_

Picking up Ashley’s beanie I climbed down the manhole; relieved that, while it still hurt, my ankle wasn’t making it too hard to walk now. As I continued onwards I heard something, a voice, screaming for help.

“Huh, hello?” I called out. “Who’s there?”

It sounded familiar, but; I shook my head, it couldn’t be, Mike had assured us Jessica was dead. So, pressing onwards I soon had to jump down a ledge, despite the jolt of pain, and continue.

‘ _Fuck man, that hurt...’_

However I soon stopped and smiled when I saw Brian, Ashley and Emily hurrying back towards him.  
“Chris!” Ashley cried.

“Hey!”

She must have noticed I looked spooked. “God, what happened?”

I shook my head. “Thought I heard Jess.”

“Oh my God...” Ashley gasped. “Wait, where’s Kyle?”  
I froze. “He’s not with you...I thought?”

“He was but then we lost sight of him; we thought he went back for you.” Ashley remarked.

“I...I didn’t see him, he’s not...” I stammered.

Emily sighed. “We’ve got no choice guys, we’ve gotta get back to the lodge, Sam insisted we go back. We just have to...hope.”

I grimaced but nodded and we began to then leave, with the girls telling me what Sam had said in detail. I didn’t like the thought of leaving her here, or not looking for Kyle but had to agree.

Remembering I grinned and pulled something from my pocket.

“Here, I think this belongs to you Ash.” I said, handing her the beanie.

She smiled, blushing lightly. “Ah, thanks Chris, you got the message then.”

I nodded, smirking as she pulled it back on and we continued to head back.

 

_**Sam** _

**05:35**

 

Looking at the wall before me, I carefully chose my starting point and began to climb up the wall; I paused and then, preparing myself I set my feet on some rocks and pushed upwards, leaping to a higher ledge. I grabbed the wooden board but it broke, I gave a short cry but quickly recovered and stayed holding on.

“Urgh, come on.” I muttered.

I forced herself upwards again, bracing my feet and making another leap, grabbing a broken structure before making another to a higher ledge.

“Come on, come on.” I muttered; encouraging myself. “You can do it.”

I climbed up the rocks until finally I reached the top of the wall. I grinned as I pulled myself to my feet.

“Hah, I beat you.” I said breathlessly. “I fuckin’ beat you.”

Composing myself I began to look around, using the light from my head-torch to guide me, keeping my hands free. I soon reached a gap in the path and opted to take the stairs to the right, I had only just got off the stairs when suddenly there was a loud rumbling and then a smashing noise.  
“Ahh!” I cried out, then saw the stairs I had just used were destroyed. “Jesus!”

Shaking my head I continued onwards, desperate to find Mike, already afraid it was too late.

I stopped however when I heard a loud, strange noise.

“What was that?” I mumbled warily.

My search to the top of the stairs didn’t glean anything but a strange symbol on the wall, and a skull. Shaking my head, a little creeped out, I turned to follow a different route, along some raised walkways. Suddenly the cavern started to shake and I had to grab the railing to steady myself.

“Oh fuck!” I cried out. “Fuck!”  
Rocks fell, both behind and in front of me, forcing me to jump the gap before hurrying off the walkway.

‘ _This is getting real fucked up, not good, not good at all…’_ I noted with concern.

Just then  I heard that noise again and shook  my head. Grabbing a nearby pipe for protection. Reaching another ledge  I carefully dropped down.  At that moment, the metal door opposite  me burst open and Mike came charging in, trying to slam the door behind him.

“Goddammit!!!” He cried.

“Mike!”

“Stay back there!!” He shouted, as suddenly a Wendigo leapt out onto him, pinning him down.

The Wendigo appeared to be burning and now looked set, despite being wreathed in fire, to make Mike it’s next meal.

“Holy shit!!” I yelled before charging forwards. “Hey!!! FATTY OVER HERE!!”  
The creature shrieked and lifted its head towards me, for a brief second, I could have sworn it actually looked offended by my words, before I struck it with the pipe, then again for good measure. The flames faded and it finally went still. But that wasn’t the end, at that moment a strange form burst out and flew away.

Mike quickly recovered, closing the door panting.  I gasped for breath too, unfortunately  my pipe was now damaged and could no longer be used.

“Whoa...you alright?” Mike gasped.

Fighting for air I laughed shortly. “Uhh, define ‘alright’.”

Mike nodded understandingly. “Alive for a start?”

“Yeah, yeah...” I replied. “Alive’s good.”

Mike shook his head. “The hell are you doing here, anyway?”

I bit my lip sheepishly, considering the encounter. “I was gonna warn you, about the Wendigos.”

“I think I got it.” Mike replied with a short laugh.

I agreed and Mike continued. “Let’s go, let’s find a way down to where this fucker lives.”

Mike and I both left the area, deciding to search for Josh together.


	11. Chapter 10: Repentance

**Until Dawn: The Light of Day**

**Chapter 10: Repentance**

**One Hour Until Dawn**

 

_**Josh** _

**06:10**

 

I struggled desperately, trying to rise from the ground, my mind kept tormenting me, I was alone, all alone and deeply afraid. I could hear the skittering and strange screeching that echoed nearby, then I heard something else, also echoing.

It was Hannah’s voice, singing. _“_ _Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques. Dormez vous?”_

I whimpered; my sister was haunting me again. “No, no, no, no...”

Then Beth’s voice joined Hannah’s, starting the song as Hannah continued.  _“Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques. Dormez vous?”_

“ _Dormez vous? Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines! Ding dang dong.”_  
“No, no, no...not again!” I moaned.

“ _Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines! Ding dang dong.”_ Beth’s singing continued as Hannah finished.

“ _Ding dang dong.”_

I was on my feet by now, gripping my skull which felt like it was about to burst. I staggered back and forth, pleading.

“Not again! Get away, get away!” I cried in desperation and terror. “Get away from me!”

Finally Beth finished.  _“Ding dang dong.”_

My sister’s voices then dissolved into laughter as I covered his ears, tears streaming down my face. They were mocking me again.

Trying hard to compose m y self  I cried out desperately.

“No, you’re dead!”

I soon became overwhelmed however, hearing more voices.

“ _Sorry.”_ Dr. Hill’s tone was almost disparaging.

“You’re dead!!!” I screamed in fear at my sister’s, _still_ haunting me.

Dr. Hill’s voice continued.  _“You can’t change what happened last year.”_

“ _Josh.”_ Hannah called out.

“Shut up!”

“ _We miss you Josh.”_ Hannah's voice continued undeterred.

I shook my head vehemently. “No! You’re dead!”

Hannah’s voice suddenly became menacing.  _ “Come with us.” _

I shuddered and tried to get a sense of my surroundings, to find a way out of this nightmare.

Suddenly Mike’s voice echoed in my head too, followed by his own and then Chris’.

“ _A goddamn murderer is what you are!”_

“ _...It’s not ready...”  
“You manipulated us!”_

I shook  my head in denial. “No, they’re gonna love it...”  
_“You’re a coward!”_ Chris’ voice snapped.  _“Are you insane!?”_

I heard  my own voice again.  _“I just want us to have a good time. They’re gonna love it when it's ready.”_

But it hadn’t turned out that way, they overreacted and now I was stuck in this living nightmare.

I heard Ashley’s voice screaming in his head, her cry of terror, then suddenly his own voice, distorted as the Psycho.

“ _Hello there!”_

I shuddered and hissed. “I don’t take orders from you...you can’t tell me what to do...”

I grit  my teeth, hearing the Psycho again.  _“_ _How does it make you feel?”_

“You can’t tell me what to do anymore...”

The Psycho just laughed.  _“Time has run out for Josh.”_

But soon the voices began to fade and I felt something else. “Okay...okay...”

This new feeling, whatever it was, felt as it if was guiding me.

Even as Hannah’s voice echoed again.  _“Come with us.”_

“I trust you.” I said at last.

Composing  my self  I soon found  my self standing, ready to try and find  my way out of this nightmare.  I stumbled along a nearby path, towards the edge of the cavern seeking a way out. Suddenly however, Beth appeared, blocking the path, her skin was heavily decayed, as expected of a corpse.

“Josh!”

I stumbled back, panicking again. “No!, No, no, no, You’re not real!”

Beth spoke again, her voice hoarse and, impossible. “We were all alone down there...”

“No, no...no, no, not again.”  
I stumbled away, attempting to head the other way.

Unfortunately, this time, when Beth appeared, an equally decayed Hannah appeared along side her.

“All alone.” Hannah exclaimed. “But you’re with us now.”  
“No!” I cried out. “Get away!”

“Family.”  
I tried to run away, down another path. “Get away from me, get away!!”  
“Why didn’t you save us, Josh!” Beth demanded in an accusatory tone. “Why did you want us to die?”  
I shook my head desperately. “I didn’t, I didn’t want you to die- I swear!!”

I stumbled away, trying to drown out the sounds of  my sister’s voices. But when  I stopped and opened  my eyes again,  I saw the wall in front of  me had taken on the appearance of pig skin and a knife cut through it, the head of a squealing pig emerged.  I screamed and cried before lashing out, punching the thing in the face.  As it hit the ground  I let out a sound of disgust, before panicking again as suddenly it began to writhe and turn into a gigantic pile of pig entrails which suddenly morphed into Hannah and Beth again, now blood-stained and towering over  me .

“Josh!”

“No no n- n- n- no... I don't... I don't take orders from you! No...” I pleaded.

Hannah suddenly reached up and ripped at her face, revealing a skull. “Is this what you want?”

“NO, NO!” I screamed. “Why are you doing this?! Leave me alone!! Why are you doing this!?”

Hannah suddenly began accusing him again. “Why didn’t you save us Josh, why did you want us to die?”  
“You’re dead.” I screamed. “You’re dead!”

Suddenly I heard an unearthly screech and suddenly, from within the walls, another face appeared, gaunt and stark white, sightless eyes glared at me as its razor sharp teeth parted I could only stare at it in utter panic and disbelief.

 

_**Sam** _

**06:00**

 

I shook my head as I walked alongside Mike, searching for Josh. I did my best to ignore the sticky feeling against my shins, how my yoga pants now stuck to my shins, I had reopened or gained fresh wounds to my legs as well as scratches on my right collar bone and up my neck a little, I also now felt the two large scrapes on my right cheekbone and above my left eyebrow. Mike now sported a black eye, several scratches and scrapes and was covered in grime. Neither of us said much at first; both still reeling from our close encounter with the Wendigo.

“I was not prepared for how ugly that thing would be up close.” I said at last.

“Yeah.” Mike replied, hesitating briefly before continuing. “So, I noticed something kind of weird about it...”  
I turned my head towards him, biting my lip, worried. “Uh...what?”  
“The Wendigo, it had a scar.”

“So?” I queried.

Mike sighed. “I’ve seen it before.”  
I stopped. “What are you talking about?”

“ I saw these old pictures of some guy with that same scar – and he was transforming into a Wendigo.” Mike explained.

I gasped. “You’re kidding.”

Mike nodded. “It was one of those miners who’d been trapped, back in the fifties, in the cave-in. Which means that thing is eighty years old, at least.”  
I shook my head and resumed walking. “Spunky for an old timer.”  
I just prayed we’d find Josh soon, this was starting to fray even my nerves.

I swore to  my self, this was all crazy, it had been the scariest and most nerve-jarring night of  my life. The things  I’d seen, the things  I’d felt and endured, the feelings of violation  I had felt still lingering.  I was certain the others felt the same,  I couldn’t help but worry however, for  all those missing. I was drained, physically and mentally; but until  I was able to help the others and get everybody out,  I couldn’t afford to rest.  I relied on  my adrenaline to keep  me going, at least for now.

“They cleaned the place out...” Mike said at last; continuing their earlier conversation “Killed a lot of people.”  
“They?” I asked; suddenly realizing just what he said. “You mean, there’re more of them?”  
“Oh yeah.”  
“How many?” I asked worriedly.

Mike’s answer didn’t help either. “Too many.”

Suppressing a shudder, I thought for a moment. “I think we’re close, to the lair.”  
“How can you tell?” He asked, incredulous.

“I don’t know, I just...” I replied, hesitantly. “Feel really terrible all of a sudden.”  
Mike sighed and replied honestly. “Ditto.”  
I shuddered again and tried to focus on moving forwards.

Our path continued onwards, until  we found themselves at the edge of an underground lake, certainly going to be frigid cold.

“I really don’t want to go in there.” I muttered.

Mike shrugged. “There’s no other way through.”  
I however wasn’t convinced, I decided to see if the path to the left could get them around. As we walked however, my hopes soon died, but then I saw something else.

“Mike, is that what I think it is?” I asked warily.

“Shit...” He muttered. “looks like a grave.”  
Getting closer we saw it was indeed a grave, a grave that had been dug up. Something glinted in the center of it. I carefully stepped in and picked it up. Stepping back out of the grave, Mike and I examined the object; it was a wristwatch, engraved on the back it was the initials BW.

I gasped, recognizing it. “Oh God...Mike, this is Beth’s! This is her watch!”

“What, let me see...” He replied, shocked.

I then noticed and pointed out. “Look, there was a cross here.”  
“So this is where she was buried.”

“But...” I looked at the desecrated grave. “Who dug her up.”

Mike shuddered, disturbed. “Let’s keep moving.”

I quietly agreed and we returned to the ledge we had approached earlier, by the water side.

I cringed as  I looked over the murky water before sitting down, Mike sitting next to  me .

“Fine...I’m going in.” I said at last.

But I hesitated. Mike just shook his head and slid into the water. He waded forwards a few steps.

“Come on, it’s okay.” He told me as reassuringly as he could.

I shook my head. “You sure?”

“I’m not dead yet.”  
“Famous last words.” I replied casually.

Still I slid into the water and gasped audibly.

“It’s freezing, I can’t feel my fingers.” I exclaimed.

Mike just nodded and we continued to wade through the water, suddenly, I felt herself panic as the floor sloped down sharply, causing the water to get higher, I was soon in the water nearly up to my neck.

“Holy shit.” Mike muttered; he wasn’t quite as submerged.

“Wait a minute, I thought you’d reached the deepest part.”

Mike shook his head. “I didn’t say that, I said it was okay, meaning like, there weren’t any sharks or anything in here.”

“Sharks.” I groaned. “Great, thank you!”

Rolling  my eyes  we continued onwards.

As we did so Mike  seemed to  notice something however which worried him.

“It’s getting deeper.”  
I cringed. “Yeah, uhm...”  
I was now up to my chin but pushed on, a little further ahead, Mike spoke again, his words a relief to me in the frigid water.

“Okay, okay, hey it’s sloping up again, we’re gonna make it.”  
Relief flooded me but I replied in desperation. “Oh my god, don’t jinx it!”

Finally however,  we made it to the other side and climbed out, much to  our relief.  Quickly gathering  our selves  we approached the metal door at the other end of the ledge.  We attempted to open the door when suddenly it simply burst open,  we reacted in surprise as water gushed from the door, amongst the water however, shocking them both and making  me scream was a decomposing head.

“Jesus, she...Jee...” Mike stammered.

We slid through the door, suddenly dreading what we were going to find. Inside, in varying states of decay, hanging from the ceiling on meat hooks, were bodies, one of them we recognized right away as the Stranger, even without his head.

Still reeling from our discovery of the bodies Mike suddenly spoke as he looked through a gap in the boards.

“Wait, hold on, I think I saw something.”

I joined him and we looked carefully. At the other end, jabbering to himself, was Josh. I cried out his name as we found a door in the wooden wall and hurried through towards him.

“I don’t take orders from you, you can’t tell me what to do...” Josh was mumbling.

“Hey, hey, Josh!” Mike called out.

We both shared a worried glance as Josh continued jabbering. We watched as Josh seemed to not even see them.

“What’s the matter with him Mike?” I asked, concerned.

Mike shook his head. “He’s tripping or something. Josh!”  
As he shouted he smacked Josh in the face. Josh staggered and blinked.

“M...Mike?”  
“Josh...hey man-” Mike replied, a little relived he seemed himself again.

Josh shook his head, nearly whimpering. “Don’t h-hit me, p-please-”

Mike shook his head. “You were deep in it man, full mental jacket.”

“We didn’t think we’d get you back...” I said softly.

After a brief pause I asked Josh about the key for the cable car, he nodded and handed over the key and then I saw something, light coming from above, from a cliff wall.

“See that over there?” I said quickly. “That means there’s a direct way out, c’mon.”  
Mike shook his head. “There’s no way Josh is gonna make it up there.”

Josh just nodded; still looking a little out of it.

I thought for a moment. “Okay, if you can help me up, I can go back to tell the others we’re okay. You bring Josh back the way we came and we’ll all meet at the lodge.

“Yeah, yeah good.” Mike replied with a smile. “Be careful.”

I nodded. “You too.”

With that he gave me a boost and I began climbing the wall.

 

_**Josh** _

**06:14**

 

After watching Sam climb up the cliff wall until she was too far away, Mike turned to me.

“Alright, let’s go you fucked up son of a bitch.” Mike said as good-naturedly as he could.

I shuddered but nodded, following Mike. I had almost lost hope, but now, suddenly here I was with one of my friends again. Or at least, I hoped I could still be considered a friend. At the very least, I was glad that they were at least guiding me out of this trap.

Rubbing my jaw I spoke up, my voice slightly hoarse. “You didn’t...you didn’t have to hit me so much, man.”

Mike grimaced. “Ah yeah, I’m sorry about before, man...I didn’t believe you when you said you didn’t kill Jess.”

There was an uneasy silence before Mike sighed.  
“I was wrong.”

Mike took a moment to compose himself, getting ready to enter the room ahead. He glanced back at me, worried, before entering, as we entered my eyes went wide.

“No...No!” I cried out in horror.

The room was full of bodies. Mike urged me to keep moving and we did. As we walked however, I felt it again and started muttering.

“I know, I know, I know, I know...okay...”

Mike however was able, at last, to guide me out of the room and we reached the edge of some underground lake.

I looked over at Mike, worriedly, Mike just nodded and hopped down into the water. I hesitantly followed and soon we began wading through the water, heading for the other side. I finally felt myself calming down as we progressed, slowly but surely; things seemed to be getting better.

“Oh fu-!” Mike cried suddenly before he was pulled under the water.

I froze, my heart hammering in my chest, mind racing, then suddenly a beastly creature leapt from the depths; it towered over me, sinewy and completely white, eyes apparently blind, teeth and claws razor sharp, it was the monster I saw in my nightmare.

“NO!” I screamed, trying back away. “You’re not real, No, you’re not...”  
I was cut off when the monster then grabbed me. Pain flared up within me as it began squeezing my head between it’s powerful palms. Then I saw it’s right shoulder, saw something impossible. For there, on the monster’s shoulder, was a black butterfly tattoo, a very familiar black butterfly tattoo. But by the time I realized this monster was my own sister, Hannah, it was too late, with a burst of agony everything black and I saw and felt no more.

 

_**Jamie** _

**06:24**

 

I grimaced as I considered my situation, my boots were scuffed, jeans ripped, T-shirt torn, I had cuts and bruises; scrapes along my elbows and knees; gashes across my back and cuts to side of my neck; all covered in a layer of grime. But I knew it was nothing, compared to Jess. Stuck in her underwear and covered in so many wounds. We were lost in darkness, I wasn’t sure how long it was since that monster left with Matt’s body, I still couldn’t believe he had been killed, right in front of us. I clutched Jess closer, she whimpered, in fright or pain I wasn’t sure. I could feel her trembling, again, fear or cold, I wasn’t sure.

“Jess...” I whispered.

She whimpered again. “Jamie...so cold...”

“I know, me too.” I replied. “Though certainly not as much...There must be something...”

I looked around, it was awkward, due to the darkness but I could just make something out.  
“There.” I said softly.

Jess groaned but nodded and we both managed to get up. I supported her as best I could, trying to ignore my own wounds. We reached what I had seen, hanging from a line of pegs on the wall were two ragged looking miner’s coats. We quickly pulled them on, Jess fastening hers shut, she also found a pair of miner’s boots which she also pulled on. Now only her bloodied legs were showing and exposed to the cold.

Jess moaned again, this time certainly from pain.  
“Oh God...”

I grimaced. “Jess, we’ll get out of here, I promise, we’ll find help for you.”

She nodded slowly but then we froze, hearing footsteps. I quickly moved so I was in front of her and turned to face the sound. Then Jess gasped, as did I when we saw the lantern bearing figure emerge.

I found my voice first. “Kyle!?”

It was him alright; looking a mess; His clothes were also ripped, particularly on the left leg of his jeans, this made the nasty gash along his left leg, which caused him to limp, visible. He also had contusions and bruises, and I guessed a cracked rib or two from how he was holding them.

"Hey Jamie, Jess," he sighed as his facial features relaxed significantly. "I'm so glad to see you guys. I got separated from Sam and I haven't seen anyone till now."

I shook my head. “I don’t know either how we ended up down here but...Jess and I have been here for, I don’t know how long.”

“Matt, he...there was some, monster, it killed Matt.” Jess burst out.

Kyle's features darkened. "Dammit. The Wendigos must have gotten to him."

That took me aback. “A Wendigo? How do you even…?”

"Can we talk about it later?" Kyle grimaced. "It's cold and my damn leg is growing numb."

I nodded slowly. In the end we decided to try and find the way out together. As he had the light Kyle led the way, meanwhile, after seeing her struggle to keep up, I supported Jess, pulling her arm around my shoulders, while I held her wrist and wrapped an arm around her waist.

As we walked I saw Jess looking at me, something clearly on her mind.

But all she got out was. “Jamie, everything you just did...what you did for me before...thank you.”

I bit my lip but nodded.

"You guys know I'm usually the hopeless romantic," Kyle gruffed. "But this probably isn't a good time."

I could see he was looking around worriedly and nodded to him. This wasn’t the best time. Jess quietly agreed and we continued onwards through the mines, following the cart tracks on the ground, until we reached a section of wooden boards that acted like some sort of barrier to our left. Suddenly we heard the screech again, this time louder, it was closer.

“Huh?” I gasped.

Jess looked around, desperate. “Fuck.”

Kyle began to move quickly. “Guys?!”

He looked over his shoulder; I was trying to lead Jess quickly but she was stumbling, she couldn’t run, the pain was clearly too much. I looked helplessly at Kyle who stopped around looked around, I then saw something. We could take cover behind a gap in the wooden wall.

“Which way?” He muttered.

I quickly caught his attention and gestured.

I knew Jess couldn’t keep up if we ran; but I was damned if I was going to leave her behind to be killed by the Wendigo that was chasing them. Kyle’s look told me he agreed.

"C'mon, through here!" He hissed.

With that I followed into the gap behind the wall,  guiding Jess and  we pressed  our selves up against it,  Kyle remained rigid, whispering that they could sense movement to us. I held Jess as close as I could, her head against my chest. We could hear the skittering and screeching behind  us , and the ragged breathing of the creature, then it began to fade as it moved away. Suddenly Jess felt dizzy and began to stumble,  it was only me holding her that kept her upright.

“Jeez...” I whispered, looking around, nothing had heard us. “Does this hurt?”  
Jess’s only response was choked. “Oh God...”  
“Alright, alright...” I said gently, letting her go once she could stand.

I gently guided her out, Kyle right behind us. Once I began supporting her again and Kyle got in front once more, we began to move down the tunnel, a lot more wary now. We quickened our pace slightly, but not to a run. Jess was still able to just about keep up.

Kyle did his best to encourage. "I know this sucks guys, but we won't die if we keep moving."

Urged on by Kyle, Jess followed as quickly as she could with me still supporting her.

As  we turned another corner  we heard the screeching again.

“Jess!” I cried out in a panic. “Jess come on.”  
Looking back I could see the Wendigo leaping around the corner, behind us. Kyle then stopped, as did I, Jess bit her lip, the path split, we could go left and continue, or we could try and break through the wooden boards to our right, where we could see light filtering in. Kyle and I shared a look. We knew Jess couldn’t make it down the long path to the left, not with that thing so close behind. So he barged through the boards, breaking them.

“Whoa!” He cried as he nearly overbalanced, almost falling off the cliff.

We were outside now, the snow falling down. Seeing a ledge to our right as Jess and I joined him, we moved carefully over to it, with me right behind him, moving Jess until I held her against my chest again.

“Ugh...” She groaned as she must’ve felt the cold immediately bite into her bare legs, turning them almost numb. “Oh my god...Okaay...”  
I gave her a quick nod and we stopped, staying as still as we dared. The Wendigo leapt out and looked around, growling; but didn’t see us, it finally turned and leapt back into the depths of the mines. Kyle let out a breath of relief, Jess moved away from me and slumped against the rock wall behind her, letting out a dry sob. I bent over, hands on my knees, groaning. Then we all looked up in relief at the rising sun and heard the blessed sound of approaching helicopters.

 

_**Sam** _

**06:36**

 

Gritting my teeth, I clambered up until I reached a ledge large enough to stand on. I bent over, hands on my knees as I gasped for breath. Recovering I stood and looked upwards, biting my lip.

‘ _Nearly there...just this...last wall, then I’m up.’_ I told myself as I examined the final portion of wall I was yet to climb.

I knew  I couldn’t delay any further;  I had to get a move on. So, taking a risk  I jumped to grab one of the higher rocks,  I caught it, was able to catch  my foot in a niche and then was able to grab another rock higher up and pulled  my self upwards.  Looking around  I spotted an overhanging rock above  my head. Tensing  my muscles  I launched  my self up again, grabbing onto it,  I hauled  my self upwards until  I had a good grip on the surface of the wall,  my feet now also secure, with one on top of the overhang.

“Ugh...” I grunted with the effort. “Come on.”

I looked up,  I was very nearly at the top; just a little further and  I would be at the surface.  I climbed around, grabbing a nearby branch, set  my foot properly and then grabbed the ledge above,  I hauled  my self up and then, panting, breathless,  I stood, up in the surface, in the forest again, the snow falling around  me . Shivering  I blew on  my hands, trying to warm them up.

I shook  my head.  _‘Pity these clothes weren’t suitable for this kind of weather; still; just have to bear it, nearly there.’_

I knew the way back now, I could see the lodge in the distance and, closer by, the shed.

I immediately began walking; standing still wouldn’t help me here, I’d just freeze.

‘ _Although if a Wendigo comes along, it’ll be my best defence...Freezing to death.’_ I thought with a touch of dark humour. _‘Don’t think they’d like a Sam popsicle.’_

I reached a brief divergence in the path, but both seemed to lead the same way, so I choose the right path and followed it. When they finally met I stopped.

“Oh man...” I groaned.

I was at a lake, I’d have to wade across. Just when I thought I was done with that, just when I had finally dried off. Shaking my head I dropped down into the lake and shrieked from the cold that instantly bit into my skin, soaking my clothes. I cringed and forced myself onwards, wading through the water towards the other end, when suddenly I heard a loud noise. I paused and looked around, but nothing happened.

‘ _Oh please don’t say I’m getting paranoid now.’ I_ thought worriedly.

Composing myself I continued until I reached the other end and climbed out. Shivering uncontrollably, I moved onwards, wrapping my arms around myself. I didn’t dare stop until I reached a high ledge, I saw only one way down. Taking a deep breath I began to slide down, but lost control.

“Whoa...” I cried out. “Oh shit!”

I grunted in pain as I reached the bottom, only to fall hard on the ground, on my stomach.

Groaning I pushed myself upwards, I had to keep moving. My walk was interrupted by the screech of a Wendigo, loud, as if it was nearby. Instantly panic seized me, I was so close, I was at the shed.

I quickly made up  my mind.  _‘Crap, gotta take the risk.’_

I immediately took off running, going straight for the lodge. I looked over my shoulder desperately, fearful of pursuit. Looking forwards again, I barely had any time to react before ducking under the tree log.

“Shit!” I cried at my close call.

I quickly stopped, scoping out the area. I couldn’t hear any more signs of pursuit, but I still had to get to the lodge, quickly. I continued to run, jumping down the next ledge and over a broken jar in the path. The lodge was within sight now; I ran up the stairs onto the porch and made straight for the door. But it was locked, I couldn’t open it.

“HEY! HEY!!!!! COME ON OPEN UP!!!!” I cried out in a panic. “GUYS COME ON ARE YOU IN THERE?? LET ME IN!!!”

“Sam-”

I screamed and spun around.

“Shit, Mike!” I cried in relief before really looking at him. “Oh gosh, you look terrible-”

Mike shook his head. “Gonna look worse if we stay out here, come on!”

I looked around, there was no other way around it. I quickly picked up a rock from the ground and used it to smash one of the glass panes in the door. Through it I was able to reach in and unlock the door. Mike and I quickly entered the lodge, stopping to catch our breath.

It was then  I realized Mike was alone.

“Okay...Mike, w-what happened to Josh?” I asked fearfully.

Mike shook his head sadly. “It got him.”

I grimaced. “Oh, god, what an awful way to go...”

I shook my head and, acting automatically, flipped the lights on, but Mike quickly turned them back off, shaking his head. I quietly agreed and, after a brief discussion, we began making our way down to the basement, checking for the others.

“How do you rate our chances of survival?” I asked nervously.

Mike sighed. “I’m trying not to think about it.”

It was then we heard the screams. The door to the basement was open and we could see the others, Chris in the lead, running towards them.  
“GET OUTTA HERE, GO, GO, GO!!” He cried out.

He quickly ran past them, Ashley and Emily were approaching rapidly too.

“GO, RUN!!” Ashley screamed.

At the same time, Emily yelled out. “GO, GO, WE GOTTA GO!!”

Brian was right behind them, running despite the pain. I couldn’t help but note there was no sign of Kyle, the mere thought of that sent an icy chill through my stomach. But just as the two Wendigos appeared and began approaching the door.

“Sam...” Mike called warning. “Run...RUN!!”

He turned and ran, however I quickly darted forwards and pulled the door shut, locking it. I heard the thumping as the Wendigos began striking at it. I just prayed it would buy us some time as I ran after the others.

As I reached the top of the stairs I stopped dead; the others were already standing, rigid and terrified.

“Don’t...move...” Mike whispered to me. “Don’t fucking move a muscle.”

I had no intentions of moving. For there, hanging from the large chandelier decoration in the middle of the great room, was a Wendigo, one that looked just like the one Emily and Brian described chasing them in the mines. I did my best not to move, no easy task after my trip through the icy lake. The Wendigo snarled and partially turned. It was then my sharp eyes caught it, I heard Mike gasp and knew he had seen it too. I could scarcely believe it, for there, on the Wendigo’s right shoulder, was a black butterfly tattoo.

‘ _Hannah...’_

Just then  we heard the skittering and went tense all over again, the other two Wendigo s were now here. Wendigo Hannah  must’ve seen their movements  for she growled. As  I saw  one of the Wendigo leap somewhere out of sight  through the corner of my eye , the other approached the middle of the room, just as Hannah leapt down and immediately tackled it. Soon the two were struggling for dominance and  I quickly glanced around, Mike was a few feet to  my right, the others were further away, near the door, but spaced out, there was no way they could all make it out together, not like this.

Suddenly the Wendigo screeched as Hannah threw it into the stairs, breaking them and then against the fireplace.  My eyes widened when  I saw the damage, and also a chance. The Wendigo recovered and climbed the wall, Hannah quickly followed, both of them screeching and snapping at each other.  My eyes were fixed on the broken gas pipe however, leaking gas into the room,  I remembered the information about the Wendigos fatal weakness being fire. Right now, killing them was the only option left. It wouldn’t be easy,  we’d need someone to ignite the gas and whoever did it would more than likely be incinerated too. Looking around  I spotted a bare light bulb, if  we could just break it,  we’d have the means to make a spark. The light switch was right by the door.

‘ _It’s crazy but...but it’s doable...’_ I told myself.

Glancing at Mike, I saw he had been following the same line of thought; I nodded in agreement, we had a plan, now we just needed to put it into action.

The Wendigos resumed their fight until Hannah threw the Wendigo she had been attacking away. The Wendigo that had disappeared from sight returned, leaping at her as she responded in kind. Both of them collided in mid air, fell to the ground and soon Hannah recovered. Seizing the other Wendigo by the head she smashed him repeatedly into the ground before simply pulling his head off. Throughout this, Mike had been slowly edging his way towards the light bulb. Meanwhile, I stepped back, shocked and awed by the raw display of power, and terrified by it. I knew, if Hannah, or any of the other Wendigos got a hold of me, or any of the others, it was over for us. There would be no wriggling free, no last minute reprieve, just a quick, messy and extremely painful death.

*CREAK*

I froze as I stepped on the floorboard. _‘Crap.’_

I immediately went still as Hannah turned to me and screeched. I remained as still as possible, no easy task due to my recent cold swim, my muscles were aching to shiver, but I couldn’t afford to. I resisted and resisted while Hannah stalked towards me, snarling. Mike took advantage of this moment to reach the light bulb and, grunting with effort, squeezed it until it broke. The sound made Hannah screech again and spin around. I looked over desperately to where the others were.

They were too spaced out, they couldn’t all escape at once; the lodge was still filling with gas; the explosion would be dangerous enough without the rest of the group being in danger. Chris was nearest the door and, at the moment, had the best chance. Catching his eye I nodded and, taking the hint, he quickly darted for the door, making it out of the lodge and to safety she hoped.

‘ _Just gotta, find a way to keep Hannah distracted...so Emily, Brian and Ashley can escape, then it’s just me and Mike...and our plan.’_ I told myself.

M ike cringed as he looked back from where he had broken the light bulb, thus readying it. Hannah was approaching him, she had turned her attention to him.  I thought frantically,  I had to act, before it was too late. With the light bulb broken  we only needed to flick the switch and the building would explode. But  I couldn’t do that yet, not with  four of  my friends still inside, they’d be incinerated in the blast.  I wasn’t even sure  I had a chance to survive it; much less anyone else.

I saw Hannah closing in on Mike.  _‘Got to do something, now...distract her, anything.’_

I knew it was risky, it would allow more gas to fill the room, the explosion would be larger possibly; but that was a risk I had to take.

I could only see one option, I had to get the Wendigo’s attention back on myself.

“HEY!” I cried out, as loud as I could.

With another screech Hannah turned and stalked towards me, I did her utmost to stay still, despite the chill that seeped through my skin. I also prayed the gas interfered with the Wendigo’s sense of smell; it would be a bonus if it did. Out the corner of my eye she saw Ashley making her escape, now I just had to get Emily, Brian and Mike to safety. Unfortunately, at that moment, Emily’s foot made contact with another creaking floorboard. Hannah turned and began to walk in Emily’s direction. Acting purely on instinct, I reacted, running to nearby pillar and pressing myself against it, making as much noise as possible.

‘ _C’mon, c’mon, leave Em and look for me, c’mon.’_ I found herself desperately thinking.

The things  I did for  my friends truly surprised  me time to time.  I heard the footsteps and felt the Wendigo’s breath as it drew up alongside  me . As it turned away,  I glanced out from behind the pillar and just saw  Emily exiting,  ushering Brian out too .  I was almost there now.  I darted to another section of the wall and hid, Hannah turned again and drew closer, closer than ever before, her face mere inches from the side of  mine .  I screwed  my eyes shut tight, staying as rigid as  I could despite the overwhelming desire to shiver; despite the rancid breath of the Wendigo as it screamed right in  my ear. Despite everything;  I remained where  I was. Hannah turned away and began to edge further into the room. Glancing out  I saw Mike right by the door;  I nodded to him and he slowly, hesitantly, exited. Now it was  my turn.

Taking a deep breath  I did the only thing  I could,  I ran straight for the light switch;  I heard the screeching and knew that other Wendigo was chasing  me . Desperation pumped massive amounts of adrenaline through  my veins,  I ran faster, everything pounding through  my body, the beast behind  me screeched louder.  I didn’t dare look, but  I caught a flicker of movement out the corner of  my eye, where Hannah had been and then heard the fighting, Hannah had attacked the other Wendigo.

‘ _Now or never!’_

With a yell I leapt forwards, hitting the light switch and propelling myself out the door. The explosion was deafening and made me grunt as the force of it hit me, causing me to be thrown back. I groaned and slowly picked myself up from where I had landed in the snow. Mike slowly stood too, Ashley and Chris were seated nearby, Emily standing just behind them, Brian at her side. They stood, watching the lodge burn in silence; as the sun rose, bringing daylight at last and with it, the sound of helicopters approaching


	12. Epilogue

**Until Dawn: The Light of Day**

**Epilogue**

 

Following the lodge incident, the police did their best to interview the survivors, knowing that, while traumatic, the incident was still fresh in their minds. This was their best chance to find out what happened. They were not prepared for some of the responses they got. Various points of the interviews stood out to them when reviewed later. In Christopher Hartley’s interview, they discussed the Old Man who had been on the mountain.

“The Old Man... I, er... I don't know how to describe him I mean-” Chris had stammered.

The Interviewer asked carefully. “You said you thought he was stalking you at first- did anyone else in your group think that?”

Chris shrugged. “Well yeah-”

“Is it possible they could have killed him?”

Chris was plainly horrified by that fact. “What? No, no you don't understand. Don't you underst-”

“If he attacked you-” The Interviewer tried to reason.

Chris however was adamant, and despondent, when he replied. “He saved my life. And I watched him die.”

They had tried to get to the bottom of things, but most of what they heard was just confusing.

XXXXX

The following interview with Ashley Brown had an altercation she had with Josh Washington who had apparently attacked his friends in some sort of disguise stand out more than any other part of it.

Ashley had been frantic as she explained. “I- I stabbed him and I tried to get away but I didn't know, I swear I didn't know!”

“Didn't know...?” The Interviewer queried. “Who did you stab?”

“Oh I-I stabbed the maniac, I didn't know it was Josh, but then he was the Psycho and how was I supposed to know Josh had all the saws and the gun and oh my god.” Ashley had stammered clearly losing it.

It was clear she had suffered something truly traumatic; they all had.

XXXXX

Brian Baker, another person to be interviewed, tried to be as helpful as he could.

"Chris and I were tied together, and this pool was below us.” He explained shakily. “Josh claimed it was electrified. We didn't find out for sure though."

The Interviewer then asked. "You weren't aware Joshua Washington, was part of this?"

"Not until he revealed it.” Brian explained. “All part of some crazy revenge plot he'd cooked up. He'd lost his fucking mind."

This left the officers with more questions then answers. what had made Josh snap the way he had Why the elaborate revenge?

XXXXX

Emily Davis on the other hand had been very concerned about the deceased Matthew Taylor.

She had asked right away. “About Matt. Have uh... Have you found him?”

The Interviewer shook his head. “No... Not yet.”

Emily however burst into tears at once. “Oh god. He's dead. Isn't he?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Oh no nonono... He's just...” She burst out. “Oh my god I was such a bitch and I- I, you know, I maybe could have helped him, maybe I could have saved him?”

It was clear the death deeply affected her, despite other issues she may have had with the young man.

XXXXX

Jessica Riley presented an interesting case, being in the worst physical shape of the lot of them. She had difficulty focusing, she was so traumatized.

“How did you end up in the mines?”

She shook her head. “Fell, after the floor...it...I was...”

The Interviewer asked gently. “What did you see?”

But Jessica shook her head. “I don't know... I-I don't know.”

There was a pause before Jessica spoke again, suddenly remembering.

“...Mike...”

The Interviewer reacted at once. “What do you remember?”

“He came for me...! He did...!”

“Came for you?” The Interviewer queried.

Jessica nodded. “When I was first grabbed and taken. Where is he...? Did he make it...?”

The Interviewer quickly reassured her that this was indeed the case. Her relationship with Mike was damaged yes, but she was glad he was still alive.

XXXXX

Jamie Townley’s interview by his concern for the two people he had been picked up with.

“What happened to, to Jess and, Kyle. Are they okay, I mean…?” He stammered.

The interviewer replied calmly. “They’ll be fine, but I need to hear from you, what happened?”  
The young man shook his head, eyes wide, haunted. “Too much...how do you even…?”

It was clear they were in for a detailed and horrific account.

XXXXX

Not much stood out from Michael Monroe’s interview, just his opinions and guilt regarding Josh Washington and the young man’s role in what happened.

He had simply said it. “He was out of his fucking mind. He wanted to hurt us. Yeah, he... and... I thought he was the one who attacked Jess. Thought he’d killed her.”

But the police agreed that this fit with the rest of the story they were getting and did not see any reason to question things further.

XXXXX

Kyle Sherman's interview was kept short, largely due to his injuries, namely blood loss from his leg, and his unwillingness to accept medical help until he knew Samantha Giddings' condition.

"Did I have any clue? No, I don't think anyone did. But to do what he did, to terrorize us, to make us believe we were going to die... I think he got some sort of sick pleasure from it. If he had hurt Sam..."

The Interviewer tried to calm him down. "I assure you that Samantha is going to be okay."

"After tonight," he replied grimly. "I don't think any of us will be okay."

XXXXX

Samantha Giddings interview was the most informative however, at least in regards to Josh Washington.

“I thought we were close... Not like me and Kyle, but still…” She had said. “After his sisters disappeared, he'd come and talk to me, and, and to Kyle... He said we were the only ones who understood him. I thought... I thought we all had a connection.”

The Interviewer expressed as much sympathy as he could. “If you need someone to talk to-”

But Sam insisted. “I'm fine.”

“Sometimes after a traumatic experience-”

“I said I'm fine.” Sam snapped.

As the interview progress, Sam had become quite insistent on the matter of the Wendigos.

In the end she just burst out. “You need to listen to me. I don't care if you believe me or not. Doesn't matter because you will. You need to go down to the mines.”

“What's in the mines, Sam?” The Interviewer asked warily.

Sam gave a blank smile. “I've seen what's down there... and I'd give anything to unsee it.”

But her words were enough and before long, the police had found the bodies and many clues, to their horror, it was clear this group of traumatized teens were all telling the truth.

 

So it was the group was left to recover in the nearby hospital. Jess most of all needed this, due to her many injuries as well as the nature of said injuries. Right now however, she sat upright in her hospital bed, wary, frightened of being seen like this. She knew everybody was already treated, or being treated and would be alright. But as Mike stood there, awkward, she guessed why he was here.

Sure enough he then spoke. “Jess, I... I'm sorry, but we need to talk."

Jess shuddered again. "I... Mike..."

"I'm sorry." he said softly. "What happened on the mountain really made me think about my life and I began to realize... What we had, Jess...it... Even if we wanted it to be, it wasn't real."

Jess shook her head. "But we were...we were so... Why?"

"I thought that I loved you, even when I began to doubt our relationship. I still thought that I felt something, that it would work." Mike explained.

"But now it won't." Jess finished for him, a sob escaping her.

Mike lowered his head, feeling horrible. "I was just fooling myself the whole time."

Jess was clearly in a fragile and vulnerable state, yet here he was, trying to break up with her.

"I wish that it didn't have to be this way, Jess. But think about it: we've all gone through too much together to lie to each other now. I know how much you care about me, but relationships need to be a two-way love, not one-sided affection. We could keep pretending, but eventually in the end, it would just make us both miserable, living a lie. Therefore, this breakup needs to happen for both of our sakes. It's for the best, for both of us, to do it now instead of later."

Jess was crying now, but trying to hold it back. The whole incident on the mountain had weakened her control on her emotions, but she was still clinging stubbornly to what little pride she had left.

"I just... Mike..." she choked out. “I understand, just...promise me one thing...This won’t stop us still being friends, we’ll all still be together as a group.”  
“Of course it won’t. We all need each other, especially now.” He replied.

Jess nodded, relieved and when Mike left, she finally let her tears out, accepting the offer of comfort Jamie gave when he entered shortly afterwards.

XXXXX

Brian meanwhile sat with Emily in her hospital room.

"Em?" Brian began gently.

She shuddered, a sob escaping her. "I-I still can't believe he's gone."

He hugged her. "I know."

"Josh, he did all this over some dumb prank." She choked out.

"We didn't know it would lead to all this, this, madness." He told her.

She began to cry and he just held her, doing what he could to get rid of her tears.

XXXXX

Sam had pulled up a chair next to the nurse, and next to Kyle. She watched silently as the nurse tended to him. Watched as she re-stitched his wounds and wrapped up his ribs. The nurse then left. Each of them said their goodbyes to her. Neither of them knew what to say to each other. Could simple words convey the intensity of which they felt? They gazed into each other's eyes, searching for the right thing to say.

It was Kyle who looked down first. Sam couldn't take it anymore. She pushed her chair to his side and laid her head on his shoulder. He responded by gently wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. She reacted by wrapping an arm around him and squeezing.

"Watch the ribs!" he hissed. "You literally just watched the nurse wrap them!"

Sam quietly apologized, and resumed holding him. She wanted to smile, she wanted to tell him it'll be alright, but the words died on her tongue. Because somehow she knew, that he already knew that. They both did.


End file.
